Uber lays off around 350 more across Eats, self-driving and other departments

Re:Uber lays off around 350 more across Eats, self-driving a... by mytailorisrich on Monday October 14, 2019 @03:01PM (#21251578)

> the management promotion game becomes almost entirely about headcount underneath you. If you're a middle manager, this is not just true for you, but also for your boss, who is then aligned to help you get more people under you, since those people are also under them indirectly.

Yes, that's exactly how it works. It helps you move from manager to senior manager. It helps your boss move from senior manager to director, etc.

Growing your team is management 101 for anyone with a minimum politically astute. So if the message you get "from above" is that the budget is unlimited (which honestly seems to have been the case at Uber) then you dream up any justification to increase your headcount.

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Re:Uber lays off around 350 more across Eats, self-driving a... by Gibbon1 on Monday October 14, 2019 @06:25PM (#21253528)

One of my companies associates. Said things for him got a lot different after he managed a group of 500 engineers. Going from 5 to 50 didn't change things much. But 50 to 500 was night and day.

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Re:Uber lays off around 350 more across Eats, self-driving a... by coldcode on Monday October 14, 2019 @03:27PM (#21251822)

At my (large but not tech) employer, some mgr/execs hire reams of contractors to pad the headcount, then have to beg/borrow/steal budget to keep them around until they get promoted.

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Re:Uber lays off around 350 more across Eats, self-driving a... by 9nGQluzmnq3M on Monday October 14, 2019 @04:24PM (#21252453)

Contractors typically come from a different budget than headcount. So when you can't hire employees, you hire contractors, and then use them to justify your next headcount request. Rinse and repeat.

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