Re:SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce
by SampleBourgeois on Friday January 11, 2019 @09:13PM
(#18889097)
Elon Musk is sticking to the Roman definition of decimation
The roman definition involved beating 1 in 10 to death by the "coworkers", so no, I don't think 8 weeks of severance and helping them write resumes plus get new jobs elsewhere is a very good definition of decimation.
In percentage yes, but not in the manner of choosing the affected. Or at least one would hope itβs not every tenth person regardless of role, contribution, etc.
Re:SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce
by cyberferret on Friday January 11, 2019 @09:21PM
(#18889135)
I didn't want to like this, but all respect to you for the etymological accuracy and black humour here.
Re:SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce
by cyberferret on Saturday January 12, 2019 @06:11PM
(#18893858)
> Also it's 90/10 not 50/50.
If 90/10 from the company perspective. From the employee perspective, it sounds like everyone at SpaceX went home on Friday wondering "Do I have a job come Monday?". To each and every one of them, the prospect of having a job versus NOT having a job would have been 50/50 as they had no insight into the decision making process for the layoffs.
Sure, for an employee who may have known they had made a lot of mistakes or were obviously underperforming etc., their knowledge that the chances of them being fired could have been skewed higher, but I am willing to bet that there will be many people thinking "My work is mission critical and I am a hard worker, I think I will be safe..." who will still unexpectedly get the pink slip on Monday.
Also fire by email doesn't mean there isn't a definitive exit path or no financial support. The article itself states the email claimed a minimum of 8 weeks of pay for those laid off.
Also it's 90/10 not 50/50. If you were firing 50% of your workforce there is no avoiding a "brutal" psychological toll for the remaining.