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bitsavers

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this was part of some research I did when i turned up the reference manual from mascor, ca. 1970, which is the missing link between IBM ACS and the ACS engineers that went to Amdahl.

http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mascor

it was one of several large computer startups that failed in the 1970 recession

"some of the higher ups at Salesforce told me they were pretty ticked off about how the employees seemed to have declined in engagement and productivity. "

I wonder, could it be that people are at their emotional wits end over what has happened to their lives since 2019?

"I think companies need to fire deadweight "

I think companies, especially Google, should have thought about the implications of massive hiring associated with things like X, then shutting them down en mass creating a situation where you have staff playing musical chairs trying to find a place to land.

"it is a great excuse to lay off the low performers"

It is a great excuse to get rid anyone who disagreed with corporate changes or mangage to anger anyone in the management chain. Most big companies just put you on 'special' projects, then if you don't get the hint to leave, bundle you into the layoff pool.

"Sir Christopher Hohn A British hedge fund manager knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II says that Google and its parent company, headquartered in the Bay Area, should lay off more people after axing more than 12,000 people."

Title should read: "Upper class hedge fund manager thinks engineers make too much money, wants it for himself".

"He pleaded with staffers to remain motivated"

I heard a few more details of how they had to create a department since they had never had a layoff before to make everyone's access disappear at the same time. People found out they were gone when their badges stopped working. No contact at all with management.

This was a collosal management failure direct from the top.

Expect experienced people to start to bail.

Anyone stuck in the Hell that is a driven commute in Silicon Valley would disagree that it does anything to positively stimulate the brain.

I wouldn't argue that getting out is a good thing. Do it off drive-time peaks. Go to the park. Visit some small stores. The main thing I have noticed now after traffic has returned is it is clear that people are not paying attention to their driving. They are doing things like drifting around in lanes, making their intentions particularly difficult to guess, since no one uses turn signals here effectively.