> I think at some point, it's just inevitable that C-level management takes decisions based on the assumption that people are replaceable and that the difference between a great performer and a poor performer is essentially irrelevant.

Maybe, but I find it hard to believe that someone who has spent their entire career in the tech industry actually believes this.

The "backdoor layoffs" theory seems suspect to me more generally. It's not like they're particularly averse to doing layoffs the normal way. Especially now where the signal from big tech company doing layoffs is "we're really good at AI".

▲

steveBK123 4 days ago | parent [-]

I mean we still have headlines coming like this

https://fortune.com/2025/09/05/paramount-skydance-ceo-david-...

A 10 day notice requiring agreement to full 5 day RTO or take a voluntary package. This from a CEO talking bout 'efficiency' and cost cutting, where I know people who have been 100% remote for 5 years.

What are the odds those voluntary packages are worse than whatever contract & law specific in the case of layoffs. And I am sure the (very X/Musk/extreme hardcore coded) agreement employees sign agreeing to RTO means if they are fired later for office attendance its for-cause.

▲

dragonwriter 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

> What are the odds those voluntary packages are worse than whatever contract & law specific in the case of layoffs.

Roughly zero, if the scale as a layoff would be sub-WARN Act level, because it is unlikely that the impacted employees had any contractual severance guarantee or any legal entitlement to any notice of termination of employment or pay in lieu (they might be less than the firm’s historical practice for similar roles, and having an excuse to characterize it as voluntary provides a bit of PR cover for that, but that's not a legal or contractual guarantee.) At-will employment is the rule, rather than the exception, for private, non-uniom employment in the US.

	▲	steveBK123 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		I guess the question is then - why the same Twitter/Musk playbook of creating a forced dichotomy "agree to 5 day RTO in writing or take voluntary package"? Would imply they are probably planning WARN-act-level layoffs, and trying to get under that with "volunteers"?

▲

4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

[deleted]