All things considered, the note seems honest - lays out the facts and considerations. The severance package seems quite generous as well.
I guess it depends a bit what they mean by `the average employee receiving approximately five months of severance` (and also where you are seeing it from, maybe its seen as more generous when seen from the US). In Sweeden the notice period for the employer is between 1 and 6 months, depending on how long the empoyee has worked there. If they count that period in as part of the severance package, it could wery well be "the legal minimum" or "the legal minimum + 2 months", which sounds less great than 5 months :-p
If its "the legal minimum + approximately 5 months" then it's generous.
In the other developer-downscalings I know about here in Scandinavia (Norway if it matters) the most common deal has been 6 months, either "work for the remaining notice period, then 6 months pay" or "6 months pay, you work out the current month". I say "deal", because its a deal where the employee gets that pay, and then resigns voluntarily. If they don't take the deal they only receive the legal minimum, but they can then fight the firering, which can get expensive and complicated (I have never heard about anyone not taking the deal).
There really should be though especially when the company in question was able to afford $1 billion in stock buybacks just 2 years ago, and when the CEO has a $3 billion net worth, and when they are well known for not paying their suppliers (the artists) a fair price for the content they create.
You can also leave the job at any time, which as a frequent HN user I'm sure you know and may have used it to your advantage.
> There really should be though especially when the company in question was able to afford $1 billion in stock buybacks just 2 years ago, and when the CEO has a $3 billion net worth
They were also in a hiring spree 2 years ago, like many tech companies. Many of the current employees wouldn't have a job otherwise.
The CEO is also the founder of the company, who built it over time from scratch. There have been many ups and downs during their 17 year history. 10,000 jobs didn't appear overnight. We hardly hear when company hire, only when they let people go.
> and when they are well known for not paying their suppliers (the artists) a fair price for the content they create.
Apparently they don't make big fat profit given this layoff
"I don't recall saying good luck"
> I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company.
"Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact. More people need to be focused on delivering for our key stakeholders – creators and consumers. "
While this is likely partly true, this is mostly management's fault. I didn't see anything in the email that talks post-mortem about the root cause and how it will be prevented going forward.
Damn, that's every job I've ever had.
I think this was the first corporate notice about layoffs that didn't read like absolute bullshit.