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The richest man in the world, who just fired 90% of his employees and plans on cutting the Department of Education saying Americans are too stupid so we need to

by m_ke 2y ago

The richest man in the world, who just fired 90% of his employees and plans on cutting the Department of Education saying Americans are too stupid so we need to remove the caps on indentured labor is the most amusing thing I've seen in a really long time. Immigration is America's greatest asset, followed closely by the vast oceans that shield our capital from any threats. H1B should be replaced by an auction system that lets in the top paid employees and converts to a green card after one year with the company.

shkkmo 2y ago
> The richest man in the world, who just fired 90% of his employees This isn't true. Best I can guess you are referencing the company formerly-known-as-twitter. The 90% number refers to software engineers, not employees and only applies to one of several companies that Musk runs.
- m_ke 2y ago
  He had major layoffs at tesla too https://electrek.co/2024/12/30/tesla-replaced-laid-off-us-workers-with-foreign-workers-using-h-1b-visas-that-musk-want-to-increase/ https://electrek.co/2024/12/30/tesla-replaced-laid-off-us-wo... EDIT: in general, my point is that he practically triggered mass layoffs at large companies by being so vocal about doing it at twitter. A ton of investors were celebrating it after and pushing companies to do the same. The market for software engineers crashed after https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE Also see the layoff charts tab on this site https://layoffs.fyi/ https://layoffs.fyi/
  - shkkmo 2y ago
    > in general, my point is that he practically triggered mass layoffs at large companies by being so vocal about doing at twitter. A ton of investors were celebrating it after and pushing companies to do the same. That's an interesting claim, and one I'd be curious to see a more detailed argument for. I'm sure it had an impact, but arguing it had a larger impact than the prevailing market conditions seems hard. The massive overhiring in the year or two before seems like the obvious culprits for the majority of the mass layoffs. I see a lot of hyperbolic and flat out false things said about Musk. I push back on them because I think that people's habitual innaccuracy when he is involved tends to make the real criticism of him harder.
  - gruez 2y ago
    >EDIT: in general, my point is that he practically triggered mass layoffs at large companies by being so vocal about doing it at twitter. A ton of investors were celebrating it after and pushing companies to do the same. His acquisition was in October 2022. Job postings started dropping off in May 2022. It was already leveling off as early as February 2022. You'd have to squint really hard to believe this was caused by musk, or that he played a major factor.
BlueTemplar 2y ago
Context ! What It's Like to Work for Elon Musk - Genius, Chaos, and Burnout (techiegamers.com) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574496 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574496 And US culture breeds 'laziness' and 'mediocrity (telegraph.co.uk) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574238 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574238 In particular : > “It comes down to this: do you want America to WIN or do you want America to LOSE,” Mr Musk posted on X. “If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE. End of story.” > The world’s richest person later clarified, however, that he only advocated bringing in the top “0.1 per cent of engineering talent”. It's funny, looks like, at a meta level this also explains both my burning hatred for Twitter (even before Musk) and why Musk doesn't give a fuck about this context issue : > “Are people really dumb enough to think they can convince Elon Musk, an immigrant to the United States who has generated untold wealth and national security advantage for our economy and nation out of thin air, that high skilled immigration is bad for Americans? Like, seriously?” Mr Nelson wrote. > “My tolerance for subtards is limited,” Mr Musk replied. I can certainly see how this philosophy can work wonders at his level. And even produce tremendous improvements for *everyone : an invention has a one-time cost, but a "forever" benefit. Still, even Musk needs a society that is liberal enough to produce the kind of people that can reach for the stars, and an environment pristine enough that something like an industrial civilization is possible. He would do well to not jeopardize these...
- archagon 2y ago
  Vivek Ramaswamy recently said that we need "more movies like Whiplash, fewer reruns of Friends." He (and presumably Musk) think that a society of Terence Fletcher overlords and Andrew Neiman whipping boys is an ideal to strive for, not a cautionary tale. This is what happens when you don't get any exposure to the liberal arts.
  - throwaway314155 2y ago
    See also: Musk and others' critique of the movie Oppenheimer.

by m_ke 2y ago

shkkmo 2y ago

> The richest man in the world, who just fired 90% of his employees This isn't true. Best I can guess you are referencing the company formerly-known-as-twitter. The 90% number refers to software engineers, not employees and only applies to one of several companies that Musk runs.

m_ke 2y ago
He had major layoffs at tesla too https://electrek.co/2024/12/30/tesla-replaced-laid-off-us-workers-with-foreign-workers-using-h-1b-visas-that-musk-want-to-increase/ https://electrek.co/2024/12/30/tesla-replaced-laid-off-us-wo... EDIT: in general, my point is that he practically triggered mass layoffs at large companies by being so vocal about doing it at twitter. A ton of investors were celebrating it after and pushing companies to do the same. The market for software engineers crashed after https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/IHLIDXUSTPSOFTDEVE Also see the layoff charts tab on this site https://layoffs.fyi/ https://layoffs.fyi/
- shkkmo 2y ago
  > in general, my point is that he practically triggered mass layoffs at large companies by being so vocal about doing at twitter. A ton of investors were celebrating it after and pushing companies to do the same. That's an interesting claim, and one I'd be curious to see a more detailed argument for. I'm sure it had an impact, but arguing it had a larger impact than the prevailing market conditions seems hard. The massive overhiring in the year or two before seems like the obvious culprits for the majority of the mass layoffs. I see a lot of hyperbolic and flat out false things said about Musk. I push back on them because I think that people's habitual innaccuracy when he is involved tends to make the real criticism of him harder.
- gruez 2y ago
  >EDIT: in general, my point is that he practically triggered mass layoffs at large companies by being so vocal about doing it at twitter. A ton of investors were celebrating it after and pushing companies to do the same. His acquisition was in October 2022. Job postings started dropping off in May 2022. It was already leveling off as early as February 2022. You'd have to squint really hard to believe this was caused by musk, or that he played a major factor.

BlueTemplar 2y ago

Context ! What It's Like to Work for Elon Musk - Genius, Chaos, and Burnout (techiegamers.com) : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574496 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574496 And US culture breeds 'laziness' and 'mediocrity (telegraph.co.uk) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574238 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42574238 In particular : > “It comes down to this: do you want America to WIN or do you want America to LOSE,” Mr Musk posted on X. “If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE. End of story.” > The world’s richest person later clarified, however, that he only advocated bringing in the top “0.1 per cent of engineering talent”. It's funny, looks like, at a meta level this also explains both my burning hatred for Twitter (even before Musk) and why Musk doesn't give a fuck about this context issue : > “Are people really dumb enough to think they can convince Elon Musk, an immigrant to the United States who has generated untold wealth and national security advantage for our economy and nation out of thin air, that high skilled immigration is bad for Americans? Like, seriously?” Mr Nelson wrote. > “My tolerance for subtards is limited,” Mr Musk replied. I can certainly see how this philosophy can work wonders at his level. And even produce tremendous improvements for *everyone : an invention has a one-time cost, but a "forever" benefit. Still, even Musk needs a society that is liberal enough to produce the kind of people that can reach for the stars, and an environment pristine enough that something like an industrial civilization is possible. He would do well to not jeopardize these...

archagon 2y ago
Vivek Ramaswamy recently said that we need "more movies like Whiplash, fewer reruns of Friends." He (and presumably Musk) think that a society of Terence Fletcher overlords and Andrew Neiman whipping boys is an ideal to strive for, not a cautionary tale. This is what happens when you don't get any exposure to the liberal arts.
- throwaway314155 2y ago
  See also: Musk and others' critique of the movie Oppenheimer.