SaraMG

The lesson to take from the big layoffs at Twitter and Facebook is this: "The job will never love you back." No matter how much effort you put in, no matter how clever you are, no matter how long you've committed yourself to $COMPANY, when push comes to shove, you're just a replaceable part in the machine.

Keep your weekends and your evenings. Leave your bugs at work. Your time is for you, and your boss won't send you flowers.

Nov 10, 2022 at 3:00pmWeb
Show threadChris HarrisNov 10, 2022
@saramg Absolutely, don't kill yourself for your job. you're just a cog in a machine in many instances.
Show thread  Nov 10, 2022
@saramg I keep telling my wife the same thing for last 10 years. She just does not listen ... she was spat to the face so many times and she still has not learned her lesson. Ah well, one day maybe ...
Show threadDragonBeNov 10, 2022
@saramg That’s why I am my own boss: each hour spent is billable and I decide how, where, and when I work.
Show threadxcudNov 10, 2022
@saramg This is generally true for large companies but not necessarily true for small ones. Don't take for granted the small business owners who make big sacrifices during tough economic times.
Show threadSaraMGNov 10, 2022
@xcud A fair and valid point. Though I would say that even then, no matter how much $BOSS cares for $EMPLOYEE, at the end of the day, when times get lean, they're going to put themselves and their business first (most of the time).
Show threadIslandUsurper Nov 11, 2022
@xcud @saramg and considering that’s their livelihood, I can’t even say it’s wrong. But there’s definitely a spectrum of situations and outcomes, some of which are less empathetic than others, shall we say.
Show threadRemco.pyNov 11, 2022
Well stated nuance. @saramg
Show threadBrian SchwarzNov 23, 2022
I have a lot of personal loyalty to some people that I've worked for, but
a) that loyalty goes to the people, not the org
b) the situation may come up where they don't have the power to do things even if they want to
(c) any promise made that isn't written down doesn't survive the departure of the person who made it
(d) even if it's written they aren't necessarily binding unless your lawyers are as good as the organization's both when the agreement is drafted and when the dispute arises.
Show threadalejandroNov 11, 2022
@xcud @saramg
The last time I was ultra screwed it was by a small business owner sooooooo… no. Put yourself first always, just like small business owners do.
Show threadBrian SchwarzNov 23, 2022

@xcud @saramg my experience early in my career with a small company is that when the company needed something, it was "hey, we're all family here" and when when employees needed something it was "this is a business and hard decisions have to be made."

That was also my first hard lesson about written contracts - when a contract doesn't say what happen when one party chooses not to fulfill the terms, it isn't worth much.

Show threadmaxalmonte14Nov 10, 2022
@saramg the lesson to take is fuck capitalism, you sell your workforce to survive and they can cut your stream of revenue just like that even when there are laws in place to "protect" the employees? F U C K T H A T.
Show threadSaraMGNov 10, 2022
@maxalmonte14 Indeed, "Fuck Capitalism" should be the first words from the mouth of every baby born into this hellscape.
Show threadange1aNov 10, 2022
@saramg I've sent flowers to my employees in the past :(
Show threadSaraMGNov 10, 2022
@ange1a I know some of your ex-employees and they would all agree you are an exception. Exceptionally so...
Show threadterry chay Nov 10, 2022
@saramg yes, but we still love you. #maybetherealtreasurewasthefriendswemadealongtheway
Show threadJo WoutersNov 10, 2022
@saramg I so much do not agree with this.
It's not because this boss in this company doesn't care, that others don't.
For all of us (both employees and employers), we are stuck in the same boat, and we are riding the same waves.
A boss is the captain, and sometimes also the owner of the ship. It's a captains duty to take care of everyone aboard. And good captains do.
Chose wisely which boat you hop on.
Show threadKevin Boyd (he/him) 🇨🇦Nov 10, 2022
@saramg @jowouters I don't feel like that metaphor fully applies here. If it did, then it would follow that some captains, in some circumstances, would have a duty to throw crew members overboard in order to save the ship.
Show threadPhilipNov 10, 2022
@saramg So true!
Show threadStacey CampbellNov 10, 2022
@saramg This absolutely needs to be taught in school.
Show threadRua the SidheNov 10, 2022
@saramg Anothet lesson is that we’re all replaceable including the person at the top.
Show threadJosh CopelandNov 11, 2022
@saramg well said Sara!
Show threadJoseph KohlmannNov 11, 2022
@saramg Also, unionize your workplace.
Show threadSaraMGNov 11, 2022
@jkohlmann Illinois, where I live, just ratified a state constitutional amendment reaffirming labor's right to organize and collectively bargain. #unionyes
Show threadJoseph KohlmannNov 11, 2022
@saramg LOVE to hear that — hell yeah 🔥
Show threadTiffany, Sigh-DNov 12, 2022
@saramg @jkohlmann felt real good voting Yes on that one!
Show threadSaraMGNov 12, 2022
@drtifftaft @jkohlmann Could you even with those "No" campaigns though? There was one suggesting a Yes vote would mean more pedophiles. That's some serious desperation from the ani-union side.
Show threadTiffany, Sigh-DNov 12, 2022
@saramg @jkohlmann wow. I missed that ad. Unbelievable but not unbelievable
Show threadSaraMGNov 12, 2022
@drtifftaft @jkohlmann That one was so bad that even if I were anti-union, I'd have votes yes out of spite for such naked, unsubtle, crass manipulation.
Show threadChris⚡️Arter 🤘Nov 11, 2022

@saramg a quote that has always stuck with me:

“if you work late and put in long hours, in a couple years nobody at work will remember you did that, but your family will.”

#layoffs

Show threadHeidi McDNov 11, 2022
@saramg Mine did send me flowers but my son had to die for me to get them.
Show threadRochelleNov 11, 2022
@HMcD @saramg I’m so sorry for your loss 😔
Show threadvanbesta   ✌️Nov 11, 2022
@saramg for sure. I learned this when I got laid off.
Show threadSaraNov 11, 2022
@saramg
So much #truth in the one post!! #boost
Show threadAphrodite (recharging)Nov 11, 2022

@saramg

or, here me out, unionize.

Show threadMs. JenNov 11, 2022
@saramg This is why I am freelance.
Show threadJake MylerNov 11, 2022
@saramg definitely a difficult lesson for those of us that are workaholics. But important! 🙏
Show threaddawnatellaNov 11, 2022
@saramg YES! This! This is why I really prefer to work for myself (captain my own ship?) AND why I have been thinking a lot lately about employee ownership. That way at least, yes you do still need to make hard biz decisions (which can include firing) but at least others have a vote and you decide together. I like the EO idea better than the union v capital model because then we're all on the same team.
Show threadgagemakesNov 16, 2022
@dawnatella @saramg isn't that what WinCo does? How exactly does that work? It seems like it would be really hard to fire somebody by committee. And I wonder how you avoid things taking way too long to decide as is typical with Democratic processes. At the same time I like this idea a lot.
Show threaddawnatellaNov 17, 2022
@gage @saramg I think WinCo is an esop which means the employees own the company stock as a retirement plan but they dont get to vote on day to day biz decisions. There are lots of models and some states have biz centers to help w training/consulting. I’m still learning but yeah I think a mgmt structure would be important both as an incentive and to keep performance level high. Not making every decision by committee but voting on mgmt and biz plan/biz direction together.
Show threadSteve LawtonNov 11, 2022
@saramg Honor Labor
Show threadChristian Pearce T ✝️🏃🏻‍♂️🐕Nov 11, 2022
@saramg yup. If you do work extra. Do it for you and your skills. And don’t forget to knock off early sometimes. We all know the boss does.
Show threadCoolJojo 😄Nov 11, 2022
@saramg very true! Have to give more time to family & friends!
Show threadMike WilsonNov 11, 2022
@saramg many years ago near the start of my working life, young colleague told me the most important thing I needed to know about business. She said “companies are full of shit”.
Show thread🌸CCFORU🌸Nov 11, 2022
@saramg yes!!!
Show threadLloyd A Meeker 🏳️‍🌈Nov 11, 2022
@saramg I can't count the number of times I was told, "We're a family here!" until a financial crunch hit. I'm retired now, but I have to admit that Kool-aid was really sweet until it wasn't. I loved imagining that I belonged...
Show threadSaraMGNov 11, 2022
@wayfarer Right. It's that kind of deceptive familiarity that's the most insidious. We're intelligent adults and can know in our hearts that it's false, but it's so easy to be lulled into a sense of belief in the good times since it /seems/ true. The bad times also come though, and the other side of the paycheck doesn't actually believe they owe you anything.
Show threadlornajaneNov 11, 2022
@saramg Wise words, thank you! I wish I was better at taking this and (not all of) your other advice!
Show threadSaraMGNov 11, 2022
@lornajane When have I ever steered anyone wrong? :)
Show threaddefaultvlan Nov 11, 2022
@saramg true. I want to add that I also know an employer (mid sized company) who went above and beyond for an employee during and after a long lasting sick leave. Way beyond legal requirements.
That doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice yourself for a company, but sometimes the work you do is appreciated and it goes both ways.
Show threadSaraMGNov 11, 2022
@defaultvlan Yarp. Exceptions certainly exist. I wish they weren't so exceptional.
Show threadBjörn 🌸 StarkimarmNov 11, 2022
@saramg And if you can't keep your weekends and evenings, sell them for a hefty price. Being reachable should cost the company money.
Show threadSixkoNov 11, 2022
@saramg
Show threadShmarkusNov 11, 2022

@saramg harsh but true most probably..

Although my current employer seems to value workers because the worker is the one making profit (it's an IT service company)

Show threaddivarreNov 11, 2022
@saramg I totally agree. A company is its own entity whose sole purpose is to survive and grow at any expense, and it does not care about whoever feeds the machine.
Show threadChristine 🏳️‍⚧️🦋Nov 11, 2022
@saramg I had a job for 11 years, I loved my job, I was well respected, given important assignments, and I worked lots of extra hours. But when there was an economic crunch they laid me off. It was devastating and I've never been the same.
Show threadFelipe Nov 11, 2022
@saramg Capitalism is a cruel system, unfortunately we haven't found a better one.
Show threadBarbara TienNov 11, 2022

@saramg That's exactly right. At the end of the day, you truly work for your own reputation.

I feel for the folks who don't have the financial flexibility to just get up and walk out if they didn't get the privilege of a severance package.

Show threadTCNov 11, 2022
@saramg hear hear Sara