Substantial layoff at Google this morning, locations around the world. IT and helpdesk hit hard. To be fair, they’re hard-pressed, last quarter’s earnings a mere $26.54B, that’s a narrow 27.51% profit margin.
@timbray All the money and talent a company could ever ask for, ever, and absolutely no idea what they could be doing with it or why, beyond making one line go up. Just a total abdication of vision.
@mhoye I seen a theory that they absorb talent and pay them big salary with single goal - prevent these talents from creating anything good at competitors companies.
@koteisaev @mhoye Heard that of Microsoft already in the nineties.
@koteisaev @mhoye I'm sure all the big players do it. Just like popular singers are paid by certain politicians not to take part in any politician's campaign.
@koteisaev Yeah, made even easier by the immense supply of easy money at their scale.
I was at an intern "town hall", at microsoft, with Steve Balmer. An intern ask why are some interns getting paid to do essentially nothing all summer. Balmer immediatly quips he'd rather they stay at microsoft [doing nothing] instead of creating the next big thing some place else.
@nullagent [here I could place that famous Spock "Fascinating!" GIF from StarTrek ToS, but may be just mentioning it would be enough]
Thanks for sharing this.
] @nullagent @koteisaev @mhoye what an asshole (Balmer).
@nullagent @koteisaev @mhoye I've been under the impression that interns did scut work for no pay at all (or a negligible stipend), and someone who got paid to do nothing was an executive.
Is there hidden argument for corporate welfare paternalism here?
Google can afford to act as Pullman Company during the Gilded Age, but I don't think that's what we want.
Mega-corps have limited vision. Google don't know how to utilize those people.
In my view the argument should be redistribution of profits by taxation and public welfare.
