5 ms·

All things considered, the note seems honest - lays out the facts and considerations. The severance package seems quite generous as well.

vsnf 3y ago
Written with a first-person active voice too, unlike many bureaucratic notes. > I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company.
surgical_fire 3y ago
Agreed. And the considerations they made seem to be factual too. I think this was the first corporate notice about layoffs that didn't read like absolute bullshit.
Epa095 3y ago
> The severance package seems quite generous as well. I guess it depends a bit what they mean by `the average employee receiving approximately five months of severance` (and also where you are seeing it from, maybe its seen as more generous when seen from the US). In Sweeden the notice period for the employer is between 1 and 6 months, depending on how long the empoyee has worked there. If they count that period in as part of the severance package, it could wery well be "the legal minimum" or "the legal minimum + 2 months", which sounds less great than 5 months :-p If its "the legal minimum + approximately 5 months" then it's generous. In the other developer-downscalings I know about here in Scandinavia (Norway if it matters) the most common deal has been 6 months, either "work for the remaining notice period, then 6 months pay" or "6 months pay, you work out the current month". I say "deal", because its a deal where the employee gets that pay, and then resigns voluntarily. If they don't take the deal they only receive the legal minimum, but they can then fight the firering, which can get expensive and complicated (I have never heard about anyone not taking the deal).
- thelastknowngod 3y ago
  Yeah you're not entitled to anything in the States. There are no employment contracts and you can be fired for any reason without notice. The only reason to give severance is to avoid bad publicity. There isn't any mandate that the company has to offer anything. There really should be though especially when the company in question was able to afford $1 billion in stock buybacks just 2 years ago, and when the CEO has a $3 billion net worth, and when they are well known for not paying their suppliers (the artists) a fair price for the content they create.
  - relativ575 3y ago
    > There are no employment contracts and you can be fired for any reason without notice. You can also leave the job at any time, which as a frequent HN user I'm sure you know and may have used it to your advantage. > There really should be though especially when the company in question was able to afford $1 billion in stock buybacks just 2 years ago, and when the CEO has a $3 billion net worth They were also in a hiring spree 2 years ago, like many tech companies. Many of the current employees wouldn't have a job otherwise. The CEO is also the founder of the company, who built it over time from scratch. There have been many ups and downs during their 17 year history. 10,000 jobs didn't appear overnight. We hardly hear when company hire, only when they let people go. > and when they are well known for not paying their suppliers (the artists) a fair price for the content they create. Apparently they don't make big fat profit given this layoff
    - UncleMeat 3y ago
      The employer/employee relationship is imbalanced. The ability to leave jobs instantly is not equivalently powerful as the ability to fire people instantly. A corporation that loses an employee suddenly is typically disrupted in a very minor way. A person that loses their job instantly might not make rent next month.
      - lucaspm98 3y ago
        That may be true in aggregate, but for tech workers over the past 20 years the scales have been as heavily in their favor as any industry's employer/employee relationship potentially ever.
pcurve 3y ago
I agree, but this part bothered me. "Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact. More people need to be focused on delivering for our key stakeholders – creators and consumers. " While this is likely partly true, this is mostly management's fault. I didn't see anything in the email that talks post-mortem about the root cause and how it will be prevented going forward.
- Tao3300 3y ago
  > too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work Damn, that's every job I've ever had.

vsnf 3y ago

Written with a first-person active voice too, unlike many bureaucratic notes. > I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company.

surgical_fire 3y ago

Agreed. And the considerations they made seem to be factual too. I think this was the first corporate notice about layoffs that didn't read like absolute bullshit.

Epa095 3y ago

> The severance package seems quite generous as well. I guess it depends a bit what they mean by `the average employee receiving approximately five months of severance` (and also where you are seeing it from, maybe its seen as more generous when seen from the US). In Sweeden the notice period for the employer is between 1 and 6 months, depending on how long the empoyee has worked there. If they count that period in as part of the severance package, it could wery well be "the legal minimum" or "the legal minimum + 2 months", which sounds less great than 5 months :-p If its "the legal minimum + approximately 5 months" then it's generous. In the other developer-downscalings I know about here in Scandinavia (Norway if it matters) the most common deal has been 6 months, either "work for the remaining notice period, then 6 months pay" or "6 months pay, you work out the current month". I say "deal", because its a deal where the employee gets that pay, and then resigns voluntarily. If they don't take the deal they only receive the legal minimum, but they can then fight the firering, which can get expensive and complicated (I have never heard about anyone not taking the deal).

thelastknowngod 3y ago
Yeah you're not entitled to anything in the States. There are no employment contracts and you can be fired for any reason without notice. The only reason to give severance is to avoid bad publicity. There isn't any mandate that the company has to offer anything. There really should be though especially when the company in question was able to afford $1 billion in stock buybacks just 2 years ago, and when the CEO has a $3 billion net worth, and when they are well known for not paying their suppliers (the artists) a fair price for the content they create.
- relativ575 3y ago
  > There are no employment contracts and you can be fired for any reason without notice. You can also leave the job at any time, which as a frequent HN user I'm sure you know and may have used it to your advantage. > There really should be though especially when the company in question was able to afford $1 billion in stock buybacks just 2 years ago, and when the CEO has a $3 billion net worth They were also in a hiring spree 2 years ago, like many tech companies. Many of the current employees wouldn't have a job otherwise. The CEO is also the founder of the company, who built it over time from scratch. There have been many ups and downs during their 17 year history. 10,000 jobs didn't appear overnight. We hardly hear when company hire, only when they let people go. > and when they are well known for not paying their suppliers (the artists) a fair price for the content they create. Apparently they don't make big fat profit given this layoff
  - UncleMeat 3y ago
    The employer/employee relationship is imbalanced. The ability to leave jobs instantly is not equivalently powerful as the ability to fire people instantly. A corporation that loses an employee suddenly is typically disrupted in a very minor way. A person that loses their job instantly might not make rent next month.
    - lucaspm98 3y ago
      That may be true in aggregate, but for tech workers over the past 20 years the scales have been as heavily in their favor as any industry's employer/employee relationship potentially ever.

pcurve 3y ago

I agree, but this part bothered me. "Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact. More people need to be focused on delivering for our key stakeholders – creators and consumers. " While this is likely partly true, this is mostly management's fault. I didn't see anything in the email that talks post-mortem about the root cause and how it will be prevented going forward.

Tao3300 3y ago
> too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work Damn, that's every job I've ever had.