Some Of These Layoffs Aren’t Really Layoffs | Hacker News Reader

Some Of These Layoffs Aren’t Really Layoffs

techcrunch.com

19 pointsgleb10 comments

Interesting that people are admitting it, but this has probably been true for longer than I've been paying attention (about a decade) -- it's generally recognized that the first cut is deadwood, especially if the number is low (like the quoted myspace 5%).

An often overlooked silver lining to this is that a person under-performing in a position often has as much to do with the position as the performer. The person will probably go on to find a better, happier, more productive, or higher paying job elsewhere. Failure of a person in a role has as much to do with the management that put them in the position as the guy who ended up there, especially when the employer is in bulk-up mode.

"... A company that has made layoffs is branded a loser, and it becomes very hard to get positive press, recruit new talent and close new rounds of financing. Until now that is. Companies that have made layoffs in the last week are generally being given a pat on the back for being financially prudent ..."

Think this will be the last round of layoffs?

Probably not. A salient point to remember about creating/joining companies with VC backing they become another layer of management dictating the terms when financial conditions are not in their favour. As for shedding the bottom 5% - trees do the same. Shed their leaves in a desperate bid to survive just before they die.

"...before they die." Or... just before they go dormant for the winter.... your metaphor is kinda confused there. Especially considering 5% sounds more like natural loss of leaves at any given time anyways, more so than a period of stress.

"... your metaphor is kinda confused there. Especially considering 5% sounds more like natural loss of leaves at any given time anyways ..."

I'm don't mean to suggest trees drop any sort of percentage of leaves. More the fact they do shed leaves (just like Startups shedding staff) in times of water stress.

"... Or... just before they go dormant for the winter... "

Maybe from where you come from. Not where I come from, a land of non-deciduous trees. There is a big difference between deciduous leaves dropping in Autumn and trees under stress. Check the deciduous Oak here loosing leaves in Autumn (yes I keep a visual diary of 1 particular Oak through the seasons) ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/sets/72157607419227026...

Then compare this to a non-deciduous Eucalypt in stress ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/493280400/in/set-72157... (yes I also keep a visual diaries of dead trees) ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/sets/72157607633560765...

It's called die-back. We get a lot of it where the leaves are shed from the farthest limbs in order to help the core survive. The metaphor I use in this situation is apt.

Some of TC's news isn't really news.

People need to stop taking TechCrunch seriously. Michael Arrington is fed by venture capital firms and their portfolio companies, and has far too many conflicts of interest to be credible. Most of his posts are extremely biased and tilted toward the current thinking of those feeding him information. You gain no competitive advantage from reading this nonsense.

It's probably the place I first hear about most new startups. Can you think of any other source that's better for that?

Just go directly to the VC's own webpages; that's all TechCrunch has become.

A lot of (probably most of) the startups covered by TechCrunch aren't funded by VCs.

Killerstartups.com if you just want volume. There's definitely room for a happy medium of the two.

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