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Comment by gnarbarian | Hacker News Reader

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gnarbarian·

and this is exactly why you will be seen as disposable and the first to go when layoffs happen.

personal relationships are very important, arguably more important that your raw performance.

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Unless you get caught up in a big layoff where the people you have relationships with have zero input.

If you get laid off, it is your personal relationships that will help you land another good job while everyone else is fighting over the scraps that get posted online.

if i have to sit in an office to have job security (which is a big if as we see all the time) then i rather get thrown out. that never happened in the past almost 4 decades though: i leave because i get better offers. and never have been in an office, ever.

I've never been the first to be let go. It turns out if you do valuable work, people notice that and want to keep you around. On the other hand, when I had jobs based on a personal connection, it was almost the opposite. I was treated almost like an imposter. The conventional wisdom on this is just stupid. No one is going to keep you on just because you're a good buddy. Being useful always comes first.

people aren't rational actors. given your work passes a basic functional bar, if you are well liked, your work will be valued. if you are not liked, people will pick your work apart. these mechanisms feed back on one another but your narrative leads me to believe you /have/ forged meaningful relationships and are more well liked than you realize.

Hardly helpful when your company's headcount exceeds Dunbar's Number by 100x

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number

Lol, no.

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