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A layoff fundamentally changed how I perceive work

(mertbulan.com)
1041 points mertbio | 11 comments | 27 Jan 25 08:22 UTC | HN request time: 1.202s | source | bottom
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seanc ◴[27 Jan 25 14:33 UTC] No.42841499[source]▶
I've been in high tech for 30 years, and I've been laid off many times, most often from failed start ups. I _strongly_ disagree with a fully cynical response of working only to contract, leveraging job offers for raises, etc.

There are a few reasons for this, but the most concrete is that your behavior in this job has an impact on getting the next one. The author is correct that exemplary performance will not save you from being laid off, but when layoffs come your next job often comes from contacts that you built up from the current job, or jobs before. If people know you are a standout contributor then you will be hired quickly into desirable roles. If people think you are a hired gun who only does the bare minimum that next role will be harder to find.

On top of that, carrying around bitterness and cynicism is just bad for you. Pride in good work and pleasure in having an impact on customers and coworkers is good for you. Sometimes that means making dumb business decisions like sacrificing an evening to a company that doesn't care, but IMO that sort of thing is worth it now and then.

To be sure, don't give your heart away to a company (I did that exactly once, never again) because a company will never love you back. But your co-workers will.

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4fterd4rk ◴[27 Jan 25 15:47 UTC] No.42842331[source]▶
Why would I recommend a standout performer for a position at my company? So they can outshine me? I never recommend the "true believer" tool, always the average performer I got along with.
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scarface_74 ◴[27 Jan 25 15:58 UTC] No.42842458[source]▶
"A players hire A players and B players hire C players”.

I’m not saying I am necessarily an “A player”. But I am secure in my skills and the ability to convince someone to pay me for my skills. I was instrumental in hiring three people at a job who were all better than me at the time. I learned so much from them while I was there, it helped set me up for my next job that was my first job as a lead.

Why would I want someone that can’t help me be successful at my current job and whom I can’t learn from?

Even there I would ask my then former coworkers first advice.

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1. blitzar ◴[27 Jan 25 16:55 UTC] No.42843101[source]▶
99% of people hiring are "B/C players”
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2. scarface_74 ◴[27 Jan 25 17:24 UTC] No.42843419[source]▶
And that’s often good enough depending on what your needs are…
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3. kmonsen ◴[27 Jan 25 17:24 UTC] No.42843422[source]▶
I don't think most people would agree on what is an A, B or C.
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4. blitzar ◴[27 Jan 25 17:28 UTC] No.42843483[source]▶
The reality that nobody wasnt to say out loud is that the top 10-20% of the people you interviewed for a role would all have been just as great as the "best" candidate (and often enough the amazing candidate turns out to be terrible anyway).
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5. scarface_74 ◴[27 Jan 25 18:01 UTC] No.42843836{3}[source]▶
If you are hiring for your standard enterprise CRUD developer or “full stack” developer, once you have a few seniors (real seniors not “codez real gud” seniors), you can go down to the top 50%
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6. roguecoder ◴[27 Jan 25 22:08 UTC] No.42846274[source]▶
I don't think it is consistent company to company what is an A, B or C.
7. roguecoder ◴[27 Jan 25 22:12 UTC] No.42846312[source]▶
If you think so, I'm sorry for wherever you've worked.

A vs B vs C isn't some fixed thing we're assigned at birth: it's a matter of learning, investing in ourselves, having both humility and pride in our work, maintaining our boundaries and building up our coworkers.

People who have fully replaced intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation won't ever get to A level, because the incentives are non-linear. Actual A players keep investing and collaborating, whether they get rewarded for it now or later or never, just because it is the right thing to do.

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8. roguecoder ◴[27 Jan 25 22:16 UTC] No.42846347{4}[source]▶
Or you can hire juniors, and after a couple of years have a whole team of A-players.

It's like the story about the coach who watched two runners run the same time, one with perfect form and the other a total mess. He let the total mess onto the team, and the runner with perfect form got mad, "but I ran better than he did!!!" The coach replied, "I can't help you go any faster than you are, but the total mess is going to be incredibly fast with just a little form."

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9. scarface_74 ◴[27 Jan 25 22:54 UTC] No.42846732{5}[source]▶
The juniors are doing negative work. I need people who are neutral or positive shortly after they come on board. Besides that, once a junior gets experience, they are going to jump ship.

My expectations of a mid level developer is once given mostly clear business requirements, they should be able to turn those requests into code. They should be able to handle any “straightforward” task I throw at them.

From the definition I have seen from leveling guidelines:

Straightforward problems or efforts have minimal visible risks or obstacles. The goal is clear, but the approach is not, requiring the employee to rely on their knowledge and skills to determine the best course of action.

I expect a senior to handle “complex” tasks.

Complex problems or efforts involve visible risks, obstacles, and constraints. This often requires making trade-offs that demand expertise, sound judgment, and the ability to influence others to build consensus on the best approach.

10. blitzar ◴[27 Jan 25 23:38 UTC] No.42847144[source]▶
It's a simple numbers game - the A teams hire rarely and don't turn over staff constantly and when they do hire they pick up talent internally if it exists.

The rest hire as per the quote previously, turn over staff, build empires for their own egos etc. This makes up the bulk of market facing hiring.

11. scarface_74 ◴[28 Jan 25 01:23 UTC] No.42847868[source]▶
This is utterly false. My motivation and I assume most people who go to work is their insatiable addiction to food, clothes and shelter. “Passion is Bullshit”.

Everything I do at work is and has been since 2008 (I have been working a lot longer) is to feed those addictions. While we did get off the hedonic treadmill and downsized a couple of years ago and I focus much more on work life balance, I work hard now not for the maximum comp. But to maintain my autonomy at work and be trusted and because my current job is pretty straightforward (for me at least) and has unlimited PTO and allows us to pursue our travel hobbies.