I read this article today where a recruiter for Google was cut off from a potential hire mid-stream into his phone call. A few minutes later his email froze. Then he read an article about Google layoffs. This is how management handled it. They didn't. No forewarning, nothing. Like getting into the car with 3 good fellas because they say they've be somewhere. And you're dead.
I understand the creative destruction in economics, I know places and companies cannot last forever, even if they're useful and celebrated. Someone makes a bad decision and 10 years later, it comes back to bite you. And I mean everyone.
I was furloughed 5 years ago by one of the largest health insurance companies on the planet, along with 46 other white guys (the EEOC requires they tell you the makeup of the layoff). All of our jobs went to India. I have no idea how that worked out for them and this point I don't bloody well care.
It's not so much the empathy of strangers and the public. It's the utter lack of empathy from the employers themselves. On the level of texting your wife IT'S OVER and then ghosting her. They tell us over and over that we're their most important asset, tomorrow you're just discarded Kleenex.
I think at one time there was a sense of loyalty employees had for their employers, 20 years of service, 40 years of service. Today, it doesn't matter if you were Steve Wozniak, your ass hits the pavement. No one in management should wonder why they're having trouble with retention, or why their employees are suddenly treating them like Michael and Samir. So ye sow, so shall ye reap.
Jan 26, 2023·edited Jan 26, 2023Liked by kyla scanlon
Good article, one counterpoint: i work in the energy sector, focusing in new energy technologies, but for a company that provides heating fuel and the raw material for fertilizer and a thousand other critical uses, and there is often outright celebration in the media about how this industry is being defunded, de-insured, destructed. Job destruction is viewed as victory if it hastens the demise of the industry.
Sometimes it’s a tough world out there. Remember these words when opponents succeed.
Excellent article. While I do agree with capitalism in general, the constant need for earnings growth quarter over quarter contributes to a lack of empathy as well as short sighted decision making.
Working as a product manager (not the TikTok kind) I’m thankful everyday that I’ve dodged layoffs. Such a beautifully written piece on empathy. I’d love to see a moment in time when profits for the sake of profits isn’t top priority, but the cynic in me says it’ll never actually happen outside of small, independent pockets. I’ll just continue to dream.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness, ms. Kyla. As a bona fide oldster, I observe that the opportunity to interact with multiple age groups has diminished for younger folks getting started in a career. I didn't know how lucky I was to have older folks on the job to provide mentorship and context. We discuss income inequality but this reduction in exposure to a wide mix of ages and experience seems to warrant consideration as well.
When time permits, do take a look at Sanora Babb's memoir of adventure and struggle on the high plains of Colorado during the early twentieth: "An Owl on Every Post".
Love the philosophical focus. Society and humanity is fundamentally dependent on empathy, otherwise we indeed devolve into barbarism. Empathy should also be viewed as a competitive advantage, in an increasingly AI driven and commoditized economy, humanity is the differentiator
Great article. The entire workforce is currently awaiting to see if we will be laid off at my current place of employment. At the risk of sounding cynical, I believe most of this can be summed up as poor leadership. Many big tech leaders have become wannabe-celebrities who are caught up on all of the current tech trends but have little grasp on the ins and outs of the workforce.
Seemingly every time things got a little crazy volume-wise, I had managers tell me not to worry because we would get approved for additional head count. This should have never been the go-to solution for high volume. Another option is as simple as less volume. I would go as far as to say that if we fixed maybe 3 issues, the volume for my department would be cut in half.
Instead of hiring engineers to focus on those few issues, we hired additional support. To make things worse, when we did start developing a "one-to-many" solution mindset, we created more teams and hired more people to direct these efforts.
This all could have been avoided if top tier leaders simply listened to the workforce instead of surrounding themselves with promotion-hungry yes-people that selfishly shield them from the truth.
I read this article today where a recruiter for Google was cut off from a potential hire mid-stream into his phone call. A few minutes later his email froze. Then he read an article about Google layoffs. This is how management handled it. They didn't. No forewarning, nothing. Like getting into the car with 3 good fellas because they say they've be somewhere. And you're dead.
I understand the creative destruction in economics, I know places and companies cannot last forever, even if they're useful and celebrated. Someone makes a bad decision and 10 years later, it comes back to bite you. And I mean everyone.
I was furloughed 5 years ago by one of the largest health insurance companies on the planet, along with 46 other white guys (the EEOC requires they tell you the makeup of the layoff). All of our jobs went to India. I have no idea how that worked out for them and this point I don't bloody well care.
It's not so much the empathy of strangers and the public. It's the utter lack of empathy from the employers themselves. On the level of texting your wife IT'S OVER and then ghosting her. They tell us over and over that we're their most important asset, tomorrow you're just discarded Kleenex.
I think at one time there was a sense of loyalty employees had for their employers, 20 years of service, 40 years of service. Today, it doesn't matter if you were Steve Wozniak, your ass hits the pavement. No one in management should wonder why they're having trouble with retention, or why their employees are suddenly treating them like Michael and Samir. So ye sow, so shall ye reap.
Miserable human beings do not deserve loyalty.
Good article, one counterpoint: i work in the energy sector, focusing in new energy technologies, but for a company that provides heating fuel and the raw material for fertilizer and a thousand other critical uses, and there is often outright celebration in the media about how this industry is being defunded, de-insured, destructed. Job destruction is viewed as victory if it hastens the demise of the industry.
Sometimes it’s a tough world out there. Remember these words when opponents succeed.
Excellent article. While I do agree with capitalism in general, the constant need for earnings growth quarter over quarter contributes to a lack of empathy as well as short sighted decision making.
Working as a product manager (not the TikTok kind) I’m thankful everyday that I’ve dodged layoffs. Such a beautifully written piece on empathy. I’d love to see a moment in time when profits for the sake of profits isn’t top priority, but the cynic in me says it’ll never actually happen outside of small, independent pockets. I’ll just continue to dream.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness, ms. Kyla. As a bona fide oldster, I observe that the opportunity to interact with multiple age groups has diminished for younger folks getting started in a career. I didn't know how lucky I was to have older folks on the job to provide mentorship and context. We discuss income inequality but this reduction in exposure to a wide mix of ages and experience seems to warrant consideration as well.
When time permits, do take a look at Sanora Babb's memoir of adventure and struggle on the high plains of Colorado during the early twentieth: "An Owl on Every Post".
One of the best things I’ve read in a while - your dive into stagnation is beyond truth and summary of empathy … keep writing about it.
Great as always. I would say on the advertising market point, weakness is more broad than just social media based ads. Comcast reported earnings this week and said ad revenues are down over 5% if you exclude the world cup (https://www.cmcsa.com/static-files/0e54e9f7-1c03-484b-a68a-5e185278c4e3, page 6). Also, S&P posted in Industry Outlook for 2023 (https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/pdf-articles/230123-industry-top-trends-2023-media-and-entertainment-101571725) and discussed weakness in digital, TV and radio ads. ATT had more impact on Facebook if we look backwards. Now that they have "lapped", the base effects will make digital advertising look better going forward (in an artificial way)
Love the philosophical focus. Society and humanity is fundamentally dependent on empathy, otherwise we indeed devolve into barbarism. Empathy should also be viewed as a competitive advantage, in an increasingly AI driven and commoditized economy, humanity is the differentiator
Great article. The entire workforce is currently awaiting to see if we will be laid off at my current place of employment. At the risk of sounding cynical, I believe most of this can be summed up as poor leadership. Many big tech leaders have become wannabe-celebrities who are caught up on all of the current tech trends but have little grasp on the ins and outs of the workforce.
Seemingly every time things got a little crazy volume-wise, I had managers tell me not to worry because we would get approved for additional head count. This should have never been the go-to solution for high volume. Another option is as simple as less volume. I would go as far as to say that if we fixed maybe 3 issues, the volume for my department would be cut in half.
Instead of hiring engineers to focus on those few issues, we hired additional support. To make things worse, when we did start developing a "one-to-many" solution mindset, we created more teams and hired more people to direct these efforts.
This all could have been avoided if top tier leaders simply listened to the workforce instead of surrounding themselves with promotion-hungry yes-people that selfishly shield them from the truth.