Business Big Tech Layoffs Megathread - Techbros... we got too cocky...

Since my previous thread kinda-sorta turned into a soft megathread, and the tech layoffs will continue until morale improves, I think it's better to group them all together.

For those who want a QRD:

Just this week we've had these going on:

https://www.theverge.com/24048636/ebay-layoffs-1000-employees-january-2024

https://arstechnica.com/google/2024/01/google-ceo-sundar-pichai-promises-another-year-of-google-layoffs/

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/24/tech/sap-restructuring-ai-jobs-intl-hnk/index.html

But it's not just Big Tech, the vidya industry is also cleaning house bigly:

https://www.brokentoys.org/ludum-mortuus-est/

All in all, rough seas ahead for the techbros.

 

[singlele]

Forcing a role transfers are legally difficult because if they shovel you over in a "sink or swim" then fire you when you suck or struggle at the new role, they open themselves up to liability for very expensive Constructive Dismissal lawsuits - looks like setting someone up to fail to justify firing them. Even if they present it as an optional "you 'can' transfer to this role", its not usually considered sufficient as its not much of a choice for most people - lose your job, or get fired for sucking at whatever new role they wanted to mandate. Considering even settling on those involves severance plus damages, its usually cheaper and safer from a PR perspective to just pay severance up front with a layoff, maybe with an internal jobs board offering a "first chance at interviews on the way out" kind of deal. They always have the choice to fire you, have you apply again, and hire you in the new spot, with none of the legal risk to them.

This was more or less what happened to me at my previous job. Half of my team (4 people, including my manager and myself) were Indian women, including my manager, so that's another element of it. Hire an American, set them up to fail, and use that as a justification for further jeetification. I had no training or onboarding period, I was legit just thrown into the deep end and got zero support for anything, which they used as justification to not assign me anything and then shame me for not doing enough. Genuinely such a radicalizing experience.