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In this case, what is likely the material difference between that "note" and a "letter"? I can't imagine this note was scrawled with sharpie onto a notepad siz

by jlgreco 13y ago

In this case, what is likely the material difference between that "note" and a "letter"? I can't imagine this note was scrawled with sharpie onto a notepad sized piece of paper with adhesive backing and faint images of fruits or snowmen printed on it.

unfletch 13y ago
A note is by definition brief and informal. I think the employees deserve that any official communication in this kind of situation be neither. Edit: And I'm sure I've put more weight on that one phrase than almost anyone else, but I've worked at startups for years now and been through rounds of layoffs at a couple. It's appropriate to err in the other direction.
- nissimk 13y ago
  You expect better from Zynga? Isn't this the same company that fired people immediately before the IPO so that founders could take back their stock options? "Being a meritocracy is one of their core values." http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=8426597 http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&i...
- jlgreco 13y ago
  A long formal letter sounds like it would be better on paper, but is that actually true? I can't imagine taking any solace in such a letter if I were working there, whether I was among the shitcanned or not. Insistence on a long formal letter seems sort of like an east-coast style insistence on wearing a suit; it isn't really "for" anyone. If it makes the wearer/writer feel better about what they are doing then go for it... otherwise who is the party that cares? Pincus is a scumbag but I don't think this is an example of why.
csbrooks 13y ago
Presumably they talked to the employees affected in person first. Then the email was for everyone left... right?
- unfletch 13y ago
  Nope. I just talked to a friend who works in the SF office and he said he was in the middle of writing an email to his family saying that he wasn't affected when he realized they were still walking around telling people.

by jlgreco 13y ago

unfletch 13y ago

A note is by definition brief and informal. I think the employees deserve that any official communication in this kind of situation be neither. Edit: And I'm sure I've put more weight on that one phrase than almost anyone else, but I've worked at startups for years now and been through rounds of layoffs at a couple. It's appropriate to err in the other direction.

nissimk 13y ago
You expect better from Zynga? Isn't this the same company that fired people immediately before the IPO so that founders could take back their stock options? "Being a meritocracy is one of their core values." http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=8426597 http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&i...
jlgreco 13y ago
A long formal letter sounds like it would be better on paper, but is that actually true? I can't imagine taking any solace in such a letter if I were working there, whether I was among the shitcanned or not. Insistence on a long formal letter seems sort of like an east-coast style insistence on wearing a suit; it isn't really "for" anyone. If it makes the wearer/writer feel better about what they are doing then go for it... otherwise who is the party that cares? Pincus is a scumbag but I don't think this is an example of why.

csbrooks 13y ago

Presumably they talked to the employees affected in person first. Then the email was for everyone left... right?

unfletch 13y ago
Nope. I just talked to a friend who works in the SF office and he said he was in the middle of writing an email to his family saying that he wasn't affected when he realized they were still walking around telling people.