serious business  

The gratuitous Big Tech #layoffs are an excellent reminder of this perennial truth:

You don't owe the company any loyalty. None.

The only thing the company deserves from you is exactly as much, or as little, as it's paying for.

(Which, by the way, is also always less than the value your labor creates - the difference goes to the shareholders.)

The company doesn't give a solitary fuck about you, your well-being, or your family. They'll cut you off from your livelihood in a heartbeat.

Just got here? Fuck you.
Need a visa? Fuck you.
Pregnant? Fuck you.
Sick? Fuck you.

I've seen it happen up close and personal, as I'm sure many of you have as well.

Loyalty is a kind of love, and the corporation will never love you back.

Jan 22, 2023 at 12:45amWeb
Show threadKeri McDonnellJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns the other big thing... Nobody is irreplaceable
Show threadFreebirdFrolicJan 22, 2023
@nykeri @ceresbzns Everyone is irreplaceable ♥️. We are unique and precious. Corporatism/capitalism sees individuals as mere cogs etc therefore devaluing you, your contributions, your life. Here's a great film that illustrates this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIexe6aa14w
Up in the Air (7/9) Movie CLIP - Video Chat Firing (2009) HD

YouTube
Show threadKeri McDonnellJan 22, 2023
@mlk @ceresbzns I speak to the corporate world...
Show threadRod FaulknerJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns No lies detected!
Show threadBlack Cat RanchJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns Check out @rbreich books “The System” and “The Common Good” - it’s like the shift to concern w increasing the concentration of wealth is accelerating - shareholder profit is NOT the only goal of any corporation
Show threadShachihokoJan 22, 2023

@ceresbzns It's not even *big* companies that do this, as I can unfortunately attest. I was out on my ass with no real warning, and I'm still not sure whether what they told me at my firing meeting was really the truth of why I got fired.

I am, in fact, still angry about it.

Show threadMudManJan 22, 2023

@ceresbzns This is how I approached it, it generally worked for me:

Each year/project/unit of work is a business agreement. We either agree on the cost of my work or not.

If we do, then I'm providing that service for that period of time, including advocating for the company if that's part of the deal.

If we don't, then I'm out. No hard feelings.

Looking at it this way makes for some instability, you don't tend to plan long term, but it makes you have an exit strategy and a safety net.

Show threadMudManJan 22, 2023

@ceresbzns Of course it should be said that I have the advantage of not being in the US. The last (and only) time I was unexpectedly laid off from a big company I came out of it with access to a couple years' salary between mandatory severance and government unemployment subsidies. And they needed government approval for the layoffs in the first place.

Honestly, this argument being about "loyalty" and companies "caring" is superfluous until the US fixes that obvious, glaring hole.

Show threadSaftyKumaJan 22, 2023

@MudMan @ceresbzns

There's a reason why many of the oligarchs hate the EU and are attacking it (via shenanigans like Brexit).

Show threadbassplayerJan 22, 2023

@ceresbzns You don't have to be loyal, all you have to do is ask yourself three things
Doesmy current position aid me in my tech journey?
Do I like the technology I'm working with?
Are there additional things I can learn on the job to make myself more employable?

Keep up on those up and you will have a better chance of making lemonade.

Show threadPaul QuirkJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns always invest in yourself first, second, and third. Your investment to the company should be from the quality of labour you provide, which you improve upon by investing in yourself. Eventually, they will need you more than you need them.
Show threadGinger HawthorneJan 22, 2023

@ceresbzns and I get people all the time saying “but MY boss cares about me!” Yes, there are always individuals at companies who care about their people. Yes, companies are made of people. Yes, rarely, even those as the very top care.

But the bigger the company — ANY company — the more insulated they are from individual decision-makers. And it’s by design, not by accident. A company really does create its own sort of amorality, completely separate from anyone who works there.

Show threadBy Their DeedsJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns or take a course or self learn and get a better job that suits for a more satisfactory life, love ya!
Show threadPeaceNikJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns Very true imhe.
Show threadJoel PomalesJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns this a hundred times!
Show threadBrian DearJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns I’ve also seen the oposite up close and personal. I knew a great engineer once who had a serious stroke and couldn’t work and his company went out of its way to help out, providing him and his family with finanical aid for several years I believe. So it’s not all bad out there. Mostly bad, but not all. 🙂
Show threadMary Beth FrezonJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns @donmelton This, with examples, should be the mantra of any group trying to unionize. People are needy. They want to feel like they belong, that they are cared about, that they're part of a group. That they will be taken care of and rewarded if they do good. Make those people feel taken care of and protected in a group that actually does share concerns and goals: their co-workers! #UnionsForAll #StrongerTogether
Show threadH4Heights 🇪🇺🇵🇸🇺🇦🇨🇦Jan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns
Yup. Our wages are being stolen by the board.
Show threadHedgehogJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns big tech is not prohumanity…..the myth that they are progressive….they are very MAGA
Show threadTim MenschJan 22, 2023

@ceresbzns The only time I was ever let go from a company was right after my first child was born.

The irony was that I was 100% going to resign in less than a month because the company was moving to a new location that I wasn't willing to commute to. And I fell into a much better job in less than a month.

But still: "New father? Meh, you're fired."

Show threadWolfgang KulhanekJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns so true and always good to remember!
Show threadNicoleJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns capitalism is not to confuse with charity... if it was the world would be a really good place to live.
Show threadSteve RehrauerJan 22, 2023
@ceresbzns I figure that I owe my employer my daily expression of professional pride. Because that is the one thing I take with me from job to job. Even the jobs I loathed deserved me to try to take pride in my work for as long as it took me to find a better job.
Show threaddidib_photo 📷Jan 23, 2023

@ceresbzns

Don’t know what and where you work, but what you wrote is definitely NOT true for the company I do work for. They cared very much when I had issues in 2021/22. And I’m still a valued member of the team today.

https://www.HPE.com