4 ms·

Google's CEO responded to intense criticism at the company's all-hands meeting

25 points by donsupreme 3y ago

dekhn 3y ago
Sundar is indistinguishable from an ML model trained to optimize growth and placate shareholders. Some days I wonder if he is actually a p-zombie
- twojobsoneboss 3y ago
  You’ve just described almost all publicly traded companies and startups too. Hate the game, not the players.
  - dekhn 3y ago
    well, I worked there under Eric Schmidt, and for all his faults, he was an actual leader. The TGIF right after the 2008 financial breakdown was a masterwork in charismatic leadership. Larry was worse than Sundar, btw.
twojobsoneboss 3y ago
It must be really weird both for the FAANGs themselves and their employees - if laid off there’s only a handful of other companies one can go to to get similar total comp, and worse, many of them aren’t hiring right now So getting laid off from a FAANG is like twice as bad as getting laid off from <other tech company>
- mjr00 3y ago
  > So getting laid off from a FAANG is like twice as bad as getting laid off from <other tech company> Except you've had however long collecting an outrageous salary and stock that dwarfs 95% of people working in tech, much less other industries. Yeah, it sucks for the people who are laid off, and I don't wish them ill or anything, but it's hard to have too much sympathy if they were financially irresponsible with their enormous compensation. I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for lottery winners who lose it all in 1-2 years, either.
  - ThrowawayR2 3y ago
    Except a lot of the people laid off from FAANGs are not developers and therefore weren't "collecting an outrageous salary". Maybe try being a bit considerate towards them?
    - patientzero 3y ago
      People who weren't making developer compensation at a FAANG were not laid off from a limited option. While it always sucks to get laid off, IMO it is better not to work for them if you aren't a developer. They basically try every trick to outsource or reduce lower paid roles (which means over working you) to not get penalized for widely varying pension benefits, etc.
    - mjr00 3y ago
      I'm specifically referring to the "problem" of developers who were getting paid $500-750k+ who may have to settle for a mere $200k working at a non-FAANG company. For non-development roles, getting laid off sucks, there's no way around that. but they can hopefully find a comparable salary at a different company.
      - twojobsoneboss 3y ago
        Try 175k, that’s more realistic in the current environment
renewiltord 3y ago
Well, the place has been a retirement home for a few years now. Of course Googlers will say "Everyone I know works really hard" but I know enough coasters there to know that this is a selection effect because none of the coasters ever posted on HN. One guy got laid off and it took effect half a year in the future, at which point he got severance, and when that ended he applied and now works at another part of Google. Hahaha.
dang 3y ago
The report that this article reports on from was discussed a few days ago: Google's CEO faces employee questions about layoffs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39236229 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39236229 - Feb 2024 (22 comments) Submitters: "Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter." - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

25 points by donsupreme 3y ago

Sundar is indistinguishable from an ML model trained to optimize growth and placate shareholders. Some days I wonder if he is actually a p-zombie

twojobsoneboss 3y ago
You’ve just described almost all publicly traded companies and startups too. Hate the game, not the players.
- dekhn 3y ago
  well, I worked there under Eric Schmidt, and for all his faults, he was an actual leader. The TGIF right after the 2008 financial breakdown was a masterwork in charismatic leadership. Larry was worse than Sundar, btw.

twojobsoneboss 3y ago

It must be really weird both for the FAANGs themselves and their employees - if laid off there’s only a handful of other companies one can go to to get similar total comp, and worse, many of them aren’t hiring right now So getting laid off from a FAANG is like twice as bad as getting laid off from <other tech company>

mjr00 3y ago
> So getting laid off from a FAANG is like twice as bad as getting laid off from <other tech company> Except you've had however long collecting an outrageous salary and stock that dwarfs 95% of people working in tech, much less other industries. Yeah, it sucks for the people who are laid off, and I don't wish them ill or anything, but it's hard to have too much sympathy if they were financially irresponsible with their enormous compensation. I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for lottery winners who lose it all in 1-2 years, either.
- ThrowawayR2 3y ago
  Except a lot of the people laid off from FAANGs are not developers and therefore weren't "collecting an outrageous salary". Maybe try being a bit considerate towards them?
  - patientzero 3y ago
    People who weren't making developer compensation at a FAANG were not laid off from a limited option. While it always sucks to get laid off, IMO it is better not to work for them if you aren't a developer. They basically try every trick to outsource or reduce lower paid roles (which means over working you) to not get penalized for widely varying pension benefits, etc.
  - mjr00 3y ago
    I'm specifically referring to the "problem" of developers who were getting paid $500-750k+ who may have to settle for a mere $200k working at a non-FAANG company. For non-development roles, getting laid off sucks, there's no way around that. but they can hopefully find a comparable salary at a different company.
    - twojobsoneboss 3y ago
      Try 175k, that’s more realistic in the current environment

renewiltord 3y ago

Well, the place has been a retirement home for a few years now. Of course Googlers will say "Everyone I know works really hard" but I know enough coasters there to know that this is a selection effect because none of the coasters ever posted on HN. One guy got laid off and it took effect half a year in the future, at which point he got severance, and when that ended he applied and now works at another part of Google. Hahaha.

dang 3y ago

The report that this article reports on from was discussed a few days ago: Google's CEO faces employee questions about layoffs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39236229 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39236229 - Feb 2024 (22 comments) Submitters: "Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter." - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html