Brian AdamsJan 26, 2023
Rod Hilton

"A third laid-off Google employee told Insider that a team midway through an off-site at the Chicago office discovered that two of their team members had been laid off when they were unable to badge into the office with the rest of the group."

Companies act like this to people and then folks get offended that employees don't feel like giving their employers 2-weeks notice and putting themselves at risk anymore.

https://boingboing.net/2023/01/25/some-google-employees-found-they-were-laid-off-only-when-their-badge-didnt-let-them-into-the-office-inhuman.html

Some Google employees found they were laid off only when their badge didn't let them into the office: "Inhuman" | Boing Boing

Around 12,000 — or 6% — of Google employees were laid on Friday, but not everyone saw the “abrupt and impersonal” email before commuting to work. And so some employees who missed the me…

Boing Boing
Jan 25, 2023 at 7:48pmWeb
Show threadJason Petersen (he)Jan 25, 2023
@rodhilton @schwa I wake up every day hoping to see a historically-widespread act of sabotage by one of these people on the way out. It is well past the point that these companies deserve it.
Show threadDarwin WoodkaJan 25, 2023
@jason @rodhilton @schwa I've seen coders do it in their code. Leave little "expiration date" bombs that go off if they're laid off.
Show threadCorey Wilson 🇨🇦Jan 25, 2023

@rodhilton @donmelton

I’ve been in leadership positions for over a decade now. One of the first thing I try to get through to my younger peers is that everyone is expendable to corporations. Everyone.

Show threadEarthlingJan 25, 2023

@rodhilton

This is so disrespectful !!!!! 😡

Show threadNandor 🏳️‍🌈Jan 25, 2023
@rodhilton This happened to a friend of mine at Google who was highly respected/accomplished, and it was a huge slap in the face. You can guess his thoughts on working for another big tech company.
Show threadSteven DempsterJan 25, 2023
@rodhilton it's a very shitty trick to do sadly that just shows you what they're all about.
Show threadJWSGeek (Moving: Universeodon)Jan 25, 2023

@rodhilton companies act like this because anybody given two weeks notice on an unexpected layoff (especially after a recent good review / promotion) may get vindictive and sabotage things on their way out.

The corporate paranoia (justified because of a few examples) is such that they simply won't give soon-to-be-ex- workers a chance to do that.

It really sucks where we are, but basically corporations and workers really just don't and can't trust each other anymore.

Show threadDavidJan 25, 2023
@jwsgeek @rodhilton Then why do companies expect workers to give a 2 week notice on leaving to take a different job since they could be sabotaging on their way out?
Show threadJWSGeek (Moving: Universeodon)Jan 25, 2023

@david1 @rodhilton many don't.

it is an old formality, but i've seen several who were just "we'll pay you. Take your stuff and go.". I've seen that several times (not all same company) over the last few years.

Some times, some companies, there's the grace period of knowledge transfer etc. But that's on a case-by-case basis. They can expect, but by virtue of "right to work" and "employment at will", they can't demand it anymore.

Show threadPatty KimuraJan 26, 2023
@jwsgeek @rodhilton Back in the olden times, you looked someone in the face as you laid them off, especially layoffs not for cause. You may have had to wait while they got their personal items, and they may have cried or cursed you, but you empathized and took it. Because the fired person is shaken, humiliated, angry, and frightened. It's the worst thing to be required to do, but it's what used to be done because it's the least you can do.Shutting off badges from afar is dishonorable cowardice.
Show threadJWSGeek (Moving: Universeodon)Jan 26, 2023

@pattykimura @rodhilton not saying you're wrong, conceptually/emotionally.

Just saying this is where we are, esp with scattered multi-national corporations.

I'm in the DC area. My boss is in Toronto, his boss in the midwest, and her boss is in Austin. My lead partner is in the Bay Area, California, my team is either Toronto, or two separate (1000 mile apart) cities in India.

Who's to 'look me in the face'?

This is reality in the large corps now (and why going to the office is pointless).

Show threadPatty KimuraJan 26, 2023
@jwsgeek @rodhilton HR departments and managers exist for a reason. You can term someone by a means that involve individual contact, if you ever valued their work that contributed to your product. Everyone has a salaried manager, even remotely. Being someone's leader sometimes requires that leader to do the hard stuff that no one with a heart wants to do. To delegate termination by deactivating a magnetic card is cowardice.
Show threadリーハイJan 25, 2023
@rodhilton Isn't that illegal to do? I thought employers had to give advance notification of layoffs.
Show threadPatty KimuraJan 26, 2023
@lehi @rodhilton Depends. At will employment? Unless under contract, or in a state that has additional protections, you can be termed or quit on the spot for any reason except protected class.
Show threadMehul AntaniJan 25, 2023
@rodhilton
Show threadAlexander RutholJan 25, 2023

@rodhilton
Elon Musk is hardly "companies".

He's an alt-right activist on a mission to turn what he sees as a hotbed of liberalism into /pol/.

Show threadRod HiltonJan 25, 2023

@Je5usaurus_rex Elon Musk?

Link's about Google.

Show threadAlexander RutholJan 25, 2023
@rodhilton
Oops, wrong post. Sorry.
Show threadOldeHippi 🦋🎨🙏🌺Jan 25, 2023

@rodhilton

We've become a 'throw away' society.

Show threadJonah SteinJan 25, 2023
@rodhilton I am not saying Google handled this well or even that the layoffs are good policy... but compared to non-tech layoffs, Ex-Googlers are doing very well... and most will find jobs before their severance package runs out.
Show threadPeat BogJan 26, 2023

@rodhilton

Losing Google would be inconvenient. But if y'all want to burn Alphabet to the ground, I have no problem.

The billionaires think wealth is proof of innate superiority. They feel entitled to rule. But neofeudalism combined with modern surveillance is going to be bloody.

Show threadAhimsaJan 26, 2023

@rodhilton I have a relative who works at google and she told me that she had no idea which people were laid off. The only way she could know for sure that someone she worked with was still employed was to get an email from them, or see that they had checked in some code, or some other action that required official credentials.

I can't imagine working in that kind of environment.

Show threadSoozcatJan 26, 2023

@rodhilton "Appalling how there's no workplace loyalty these days!" say massive conglomerates who lay people off by email.

Well, no shit, Sherlock. Would you trust or even tolerate someone who behaved toward your company the way you treat your (former) workers?

Show threadRD HallJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton Have these … beancounters…not heard of Malicious Compliance?
Show threadtestingJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton
come on > those guys chose to work for one of the ugliest companies around bc it paid off > now they are in trouble & i do not feel sorry for them
Show threadbarryzeeJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton @jperlow What a nightmare. These are not people caught with their hand in the till. They need to be treated with respect. Told face to face regardless of how long it takes. Allowed priority interviews for open jobs. Cmon Google. You can be better than this. You don't want the reputation as the evil empire? Stop acting like your employees are less than nothing to you.
Show threadOldeHippi 🦋🎨🙏🌺Jan 26, 2023
@rodhilton No place at which to "stay", Musk's past due with rent......
Show threadElizabeth Tai | 戴秀铃 🇲🇾Jan 26, 2023
@rodhilton I hate how coldly this is done. Yet this is just business.
Show threadUnprecedented 2023Jan 26, 2023
@rodhilton Unbelievable.
Show threadDennis "D.C." DietrichJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton, wow. They really went out of their way to make sure those laid off understand they're not wanted anymore. From that same Boing Boing article (quoting Insider): "#Google is still hiring, but laid-off employees must apply externally like any other candidate, which another software engineer said he didn't plan on doing after the 'inhuman' way the layoffs were communicated."
Show threadKazii The AvaliJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton reminder alot of states doesnt require a 2 weeks notice. you have full ability to give a effective emediantly.
Show threadKazii The AvaliJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton correctio. every state. with an at-will imployment. ofc this means that the emplyee can fire you for any legal reason aswell. (idk about a just cause contract)
Show threadHokkaidoHillbilly・北海道ヒルビリーJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton @stopthatgirl7 Any company that sets up shop in an at-will employment state has no right to bitch about people not giving a 2 week notice. Karma is a double sided blade & a bitch.
Show threadmvkJan 26, 2023
@rodhilton @pixel As folks have been saying, this was a decision that someone made.
Show threadGurtbeef RobeJan 27, 2023
@rodhilton @HeSlimedMeRay my boss gave me 3 weeks notice when he fired me, but he told me on Xmas eve. Worse than the “jelly of the month club”
Show threadHeSlimedMeRayJan 27, 2023
@twitterreject @rodhilton ☹️
Show threadGurtbeef RobeJan 27, 2023
@HeSlimedMeRay @rodhilton I felt like I was big time since they gave me notice since they usually only do that for corporate executives lol but it still sucks. It was almost $20k paycut to get into management and I’m struggling so hopefully it will be for the best. Hated my boss anyways. It’s been much harder than expected to find something new. But I’m supposed to find out about one tomorrow at 1pm. I don’t buy into the “things always work out” bc they don’t. They used to then that stopped
Show threadGurtbeef RobeJan 27, 2023
@HeSlimedMeRay @rodhilton but I just keep going and I’ll eventually find something. Ariana Grande was actually motivating with “just keep breathing and breathing” lol. I’m a 41 yr old man. Don’t care. She makes good music lol
Show threadHeSlimedMeRayJan 27, 2023
@twitterreject @rodhilton Well, I wish you the best in your job search. I’ve been looking for something new myself for a while and you’re right, it’s really rough right now. Hang in there!
Show threadGurtbeef RobeJan 27, 2023
@HeSlimedMeRay @rodhilton All I can say is it’s better to be looking while you still have a job than to wait. Most of the time the signs are there that it’s not gonna work out. Not always, but quite often. I was usually smart enough to see the end coming soon and get out but this was a rare exception. I was miserable though and should’ve been looking to get out anyway. Good luck though. There’s plenty out there depending on your flexibility.
Show threadDavidJan 27, 2023
@rodhilton
To be honest, I’ve always felt like that was a nonsensical piece of US culture. Over here, it’s standard to give a month (sometimes 3 or 6) but that’s contractually codified for both parties!
Show threadRev. GothAliceJan 30, 2023

@rodhilton If you have an employee asking "is it worse to get fired, or quit?" then your organization has issues.

If you're laying them off and their badge is how they find out your company doesn't just have issues, it may or may not be 🤬'd, depending on the country of operation.

Notice isn't a nicety in many places.

As Elon is discovering the hard way.

Show threadRev. GothAliceJan 30, 2023

@rodhilton Interestingly related, one web development consultancy I worked for one day called up the development team: "yeah, you can take this week off."

Okay.

End of that week, got another call. "yeah, let's make it two weeks." Furlough, I believe, is the word for this type of behavior. I saw it as un-announced two weeks notice and sought employment elsewhere. Company's rather lucky us Canadians aren't litigious by nature.

(How do you have a web dev company with only managers?)