Sean LongJan 19, 2024
John Paxton

Layoff/redundancy articles should follow this format:

[Company], which had revenues of [amount] in the last four quarters, announced layoffs today. [CEO], who makes [salary], announced [count] would be laid off, approximately [percent] of [CEO's] annual benefit package.

Jan 18, 2024 at 2:00pmWeb
Show threadJohn PaxtonJan 18, 2024

Journalism is really bad at context sometimes.

And I'm not even mentioning that articles like the above should include information about the company's failed and vainglorious follow-the-crowd initiatives of the past few years which directly led to its current situation.

Show threadImpossible BlueJan 18, 2024
@paxtonjohn I was surprised at the amount of redundancies amongst our friends in November-December 2023. All mid to upper-mid professionals, highly educated and experienced (predominantly women 45+ yet some men too). Scientists, professional services, research, social/community workers, Vic Gov and private industry. And such a terrible time to do it right before Christmas / New Year slowdown where there are slim opportunities and very slow recruitment/interview processes. Wondered if this is a common occurrence or if something’s brewing.
Show threadKagan MacTane (he/him)Jan 18, 2024
@paxtonjohn But that would require some journalist to actually go and find out the numbers for the company's revenue and the CEO's salary and benefits package, instead of just copy-pasting the company's press release. You can't seriously expect them to do all that work, can you? /s
Show threadBlf_tpeJan 18, 2024
@paxtonjohn @tante Most of the time they say the % of workforce and give reasons for the layoffs. I think layoffs are part of the normal life of a company, what matters is how it is being handled. Maybe you have in mind prominent tech companies but it’s quite unfair to label everyone just like this.
Show threadBruce ElrickJan 18, 2024
@paxtonjohn Should probably throw [profit] in there as well.
Show threadDavid FetterJan 19, 2024
@paxtonjohn that's a good bit more generous a framing than they deserve, but it goes a long way in the right direction.
Show threadPratik PatelJan 19, 2024
@paxtonjohn It should also include the compensation for the entire C-Suite since the decision is usually taken by a collective of them.
Show threadJohn PaxtonJan 19, 2024
@ppatel Yes, I'd love a tool that does this. Alternatively, journalists could keep this sort of info at hand!
Show threadWagesOfJan 19, 2024

@paxtonjohn can we stop saying laid off? These people aren't waiting around for winter to end or a plant to open again.

They were fired to drive a tiny increase in profit margin, an increase that only matters to share price as it's infinitisimal rise from last quarter. An increase that will be worth less than 5% of their wage for a handful of decision makers who have no interest in the customers who buy the products or the health of the company.

Show threadBillJan 20, 2024
@paxtonjohn Spotify!!!