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Googler... ex-Googler

(nerdy.dev)
1114 points namukang | 1 comments | 11 Apr 25 20:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.3s | source
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azangru ◴[14 Apr 25 09:49 UTC] No.43679631[source]▶
I've skimmed through the comments; and seen that most people have commented on the cog in the machine thing, or on layoffs in general and how they suck.

To me, the shock from this blog post was about seeing a Chrome developer relations engineer whom I have grown to admire and who has been doing a stellar job educating web developers on new html and css features, get the sack. He was one of the best remaining speakers on web topics at the Chrome team (I am still sad about the departure of Paul Lewis and Jake Archibald); and produced a lot of top-notch educational materials (the CSS podcast; the conference talks; the demos).

What does this say about Google's attitude to web and to Chrome? What does this say about Google's commitment to developer excellence?

I understand that this is a personal tragedy for Adam; but for me personally, this is also a huge disillusionment in Google.

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gtirloni ◴[14 Apr 25 10:41 UTC] No.43679884[source]▶
It says they are getting ready for the future when some govt agency splits them up and they are shedding the load now (the areas they will have to sell).
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supportengineer ◴[14 Apr 25 18:47 UTC] No.43684709[source]▶
If you're being forced to sell something, wouldn't you want to maximize its value? Wouldn't you retain the most valuable people?
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1. gtirloni ◴[15 Apr 25 14:06 UTC] No.43692890[source]▶
That's a good question. I don't know about the author's credentials but it seem very high and indeed I'm sure they would find a job anywhere they apply to.

But from the PoV of a higher up making layoff decisions, the sooner they severe the organization from the rest of the company, the less traumatic it will be when the time comes. I think at this point they realize it's better to start treating Chrome et al more like Waymore, which seems to have some isolation from the borg collective.