Maybe this is just a language thing, but in my world "taking responsibility" involves some action to personally shoulder the pain of the layoffs beyond saying "my bad". I'd expect it'd at least begin with resignation in this case. Just like you can't just announce "I declare bankruptcy" to shrug off debts.
I'm astounded that so many supposed seasoned leaders were out there making crazy projections around maintaining covid levels of growth and I also don't think 'my bad' is enough in that context, but benefits above what's required are rarely handed over without someone committing to fighting for it.
Responsibility
Being responsible means being dependable, keeping promises and honoring our commitments. It is accepting the consequences for what we say and do. It also means developing our potential.
People who are responsible don't make excuses for their actions or blame others when things go wrong. They think things through and use good judgment before they take action. They behave in ways that encourage others to trust them.
People who are responsible take charge of their lives. They make plans and set goals for nurturing their talents and skills. They are resilient in finding ways to overcome adversity. They make decisions, taking into account obligations to family and community.
This guy literally made excuses for his actions: "broader economic slowdown"
"To ensure that we make progress on that roadmap, we are increasing our investment in product, engineering, and design, which means decreasing our spend on other ares[sic] of the company."
So it's not even a money issue. They have the money, they just want to spend it on servers and other people.
And finally, just so we're clear, I don't take umbrage with his decision and his plan for his employees. Hell, it's admirable, frankly. I take umbrage with his words. He's not taking responsibility. Responsibility means he'd cut his pay as much as necessary to keep these people because he misjudged the market and where it's headed post-COVID-19 lockdowns (since there is no such thing as 'post-COVID-19' - it's here forever now).
This is pretty classic example of wanting to have the best of all possible worlds.
"I want to be lauded for my graciousness. I want to be lauded for taking responsibility. I want to be lauded by my investors for a plan that grows the company."
That's why this is a load of horseshit. He's trying to please everyone. I have no doubt he probably agonized over this decision - I really do not; but he made it, and that means there are certain consequences with which he must live, one of those is that it should be clear to his employees that they will always take a backseat when the economic times get tough.
I was under the impression we were addressing "Jack"'s claim to responsibility. I wasn't trying to comment on the actions of the company (which I fully admit is more compassionate in its layoffs than other companies would be).
Not that this was said in this particular case so directly. This is just a general thought.
How is funding so tight that cutting the 1% of money going to these people is going to make all the difference? It's not even a total 1% gain, there will be some lost productivity making it somewhat difficult to measure.
If you truly tried everything, couldn't the CEO or other executives take a tiny cut? Not that I expect them to, I'm just saying if they truly did everything within their power to prevent it, like is often said.
I mean, sometimes I give a significant amount of my salary, like 10% as donations / tips / handouts and expect nothing back. These aren't even people I did something bad to, like forgot to pick up when I said I would, or felt guilty for spilling food on their carpet.
Surely in situation where I messed up and caused a problem for someone, I would do whatever it takes to make it right. I wouldn't just say "Well, that's what you get in this system of inviting friends over. I'm not technically required to do anything. I guess there's nothing I can do (including picking up the mess I caused or paying to have it cleaned)"
I've seen similar large donations from people who truly struggle to pay for rent and food even be similarly generous. Sometimes people will live on limited food or delay getting an apartment if it means helping out an acquaintance.
If you make millions of dollars, you don't need to worry about these basics. You'd think it'd be easier to take a personal hit which probably will have actually 0 impact on your life (literally no change-- keep on golfing, vacations, etc), rather than supposedly living with the guilt, as is frequently said, of people struggling to survive because you wanted to save 1% of your company's money for a few months (before realizing you need to hire and retrain people from scratch.)
> it'd be easier to take a personal hit
Jack Conte, the CEO, was not previously wealthy (that we know of). At this stage he might be getting paid very well, maybe even in the mid six figures, but definitely not spending $8M/year on golfing to make that a viable alternative to layoffs.