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I wouldn't even say it's "technically" the truth. It's just the truth. Nothing in the statement even comes close to implying that there wouldn't be layoffs. Hel

by csallen 9mo ago

I wouldn't even say it's "technically" the truth. It's just the truth. Nothing in the statement even comes close to implying that there wouldn't be layoffs. Hell, one of the quotes even mentions "focus", which if anything is a euphemism or hint for downsizing in these kinds of statements, not the opposite.

onemoresoop 9mo ago
"excited about this partnership, which we believe will unlock even greater focus for our team and customers as we continue to strive towards our global mission to be the most innovative and trusted video platform in the world for businesses" There's no hint of laying off all the staff here though. Now it sounds like they "were" excited to lay off people to maximize profits. Maybe "unlock even greater focus for our team" means to unlock their focus to find other jobs but it's quite perverse. I agree with the OP, that "Words no longer appear to mean things"
- csallen 9mo ago
  > There's no hint of laying off all the staff here though. Now it sounds like they "were" excited to lay off people to maximize profits. What? Just because a statement says "we're excited to do X" doesn't mean they're not also planning to do A, B, C, Y and Z. I'm not defending the layoff. It just seems weird to interpret the statement itself as somehow being misleading about a subject that it literally didn't mention.
  - johnnyanmac 9mo ago
    There's letter and spirit of the word. You're arguing against the spirit of the word because the letter of the word is technically impossible to prove as a lie right now. We call this lawful evil logic for a reason. It's how you empower stuff like Jim Crow laws (or the current US administration in general. "Well he isn't going to actually invade a NATO ally, he's just saying he wants Greenland. I want a Ferrari!")
perlgeek 9mo ago
Try to be innovative without staff though...
- johnnyanmac 9mo ago
  Here comes the AI buzzwords. I wish I was kidding. Their search result brings up >Vimeo AI-Powered Video Platform anyone who knew Vimeo pre-pandemic knows how eye-rolling this is.
ryandrake 9mo ago
A reasonable person, when told "Company A is buying and will operate Company B," would interpret that as "all of Company B" including its assets, liabilities, cash, property, patents, AND employees. They would not think "Well, ackshually, they're just buying the corporate entity itself, which doesn't technically involve keeping the employees..."
- ForHackernews 9mo ago
  Any reasonable person who has paid attention to business news over their lifetime would not be surprised to see layoffs following a corporate acquisition.
  - johnnyanmac 9mo ago
    > who has paid attention to business news over their lifetime So, less than a percent of a percent of people.
- csallen 9mo ago
  If "reasonable person" means "someone with literally zero experience reading any business or acquisition news whatsoever" then I agree with you. Hell, the OP literally begins the announcement with, "As expected."
  - johnnyanmac 9mo ago
    >"someone with literally zero experience reading any business or acquisition news whatsoever" then I agree with you. Most people aren't entrepreneurs, and they may be an older folk who grew up expecting companies invested in employee retention and building careers. Those "reasonable people" were lied to.
- akavi 9mo ago
  Only if you believe the primary purpose of a corporation is to provide employment, as opposed to generating profit for its shareholders. (To be clear, I think the latter is both descriptively true and normatively good)
hi_hi 9mo ago
You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! :-) Those words weren't truth. Truth would have been to state the intent to fire employees in order to maximise profit. This was always going to be the outcome, and it was expected, why not just state it clearly? Again, when truth becomes a grey area that is to be manipulated for maximising profits that benefit a minority of privileged individuals, we should be concerned and at the least, not normalise it with "its just business".
- johnnyanmac 9mo ago
  I don't like layoffs, but if the statement in September said "we are going to lay off most of our talent in January for blah blah blah corporate mumbo jumbo", it'd suck but I'd see nothing wrong with it. The employees get a 3 month warning to plan around, and the company can do whatever it wants from there. But that's not the society we live in.

by csallen 9mo ago

onemoresoop 9mo ago

"excited about this partnership, which we believe will unlock even greater focus for our team and customers as we continue to strive towards our global mission to be the most innovative and trusted video platform in the world for businesses" There's no hint of laying off all the staff here though. Now it sounds like they "were" excited to lay off people to maximize profits. Maybe "unlock even greater focus for our team" means to unlock their focus to find other jobs but it's quite perverse. I agree with the OP, that "Words no longer appear to mean things"

csallen 9mo ago
> There's no hint of laying off all the staff here though. Now it sounds like they "were" excited to lay off people to maximize profits. What? Just because a statement says "we're excited to do X" doesn't mean they're not also planning to do A, B, C, Y and Z. I'm not defending the layoff. It just seems weird to interpret the statement itself as somehow being misleading about a subject that it literally didn't mention.
- johnnyanmac 9mo ago
  There's letter and spirit of the word. You're arguing against the spirit of the word because the letter of the word is technically impossible to prove as a lie right now. We call this lawful evil logic for a reason. It's how you empower stuff like Jim Crow laws (or the current US administration in general. "Well he isn't going to actually invade a NATO ally, he's just saying he wants Greenland. I want a Ferrari!")

perlgeek 9mo ago

Try to be innovative without staff though...

johnnyanmac 9mo ago
Here comes the AI buzzwords. I wish I was kidding. Their search result brings up >Vimeo AI-Powered Video Platform anyone who knew Vimeo pre-pandemic knows how eye-rolling this is.

ryandrake 9mo ago

A reasonable person, when told "Company A is buying and will operate Company B," would interpret that as "all of Company B" including its assets, liabilities, cash, property, patents, AND employees. They would not think "Well, ackshually, they're just buying the corporate entity itself, which doesn't technically involve keeping the employees..."

ForHackernews 9mo ago
Any reasonable person who has paid attention to business news over their lifetime would not be surprised to see layoffs following a corporate acquisition.
- johnnyanmac 9mo ago
  > who has paid attention to business news over their lifetime So, less than a percent of a percent of people.
csallen 9mo ago
If "reasonable person" means "someone with literally zero experience reading any business or acquisition news whatsoever" then I agree with you. Hell, the OP literally begins the announcement with, "As expected."
- johnnyanmac 9mo ago
  >"someone with literally zero experience reading any business or acquisition news whatsoever" then I agree with you. Most people aren't entrepreneurs, and they may be an older folk who grew up expecting companies invested in employee retention and building careers. Those "reasonable people" were lied to.
akavi 9mo ago
Only if you believe the primary purpose of a corporation is to provide employment, as opposed to generating profit for its shareholders. (To be clear, I think the latter is both descriptively true and normatively good)

hi_hi 9mo ago

You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! :-) Those words weren't truth. Truth would have been to state the intent to fire employees in order to maximise profit. This was always going to be the outcome, and it was expected, why not just state it clearly? Again, when truth becomes a grey area that is to be manipulated for maximising profits that benefit a minority of privileged individuals, we should be concerned and at the least, not normalise it with "its just business".

johnnyanmac 9mo ago
I don't like layoffs, but if the statement in September said "we are going to lay off most of our talent in January for blah blah blah corporate mumbo jumbo", it'd suck but I'd see nothing wrong with it. The employees get a 3 month warning to plan around, and the company can do whatever it wants from there. But that's not the society we live in.