IBM went seven decades without layoffs. Yes, part of that was the unique situation of post WWII America. But read TJ Watson Jr.'s words - they really took seriously the fact that they weren't just a business - they had a responsibility to people who worked for them. IBM went through a LOT of transformation in those seven decades BTW - they somehow found ways to re-deploy people in their growing business each time.

The words of this CEO are about as good as they can be under the circumstances, but all the happy talk about "special, beautiful humans" and "Patreon’s core business is healthy and strong" and "we’re not changing our roadmap or priorities" are obviously self-contradictory. Of course, if your business can't survive with its current headcount, it would be foolish to run it into the ground - then everyone loses. But this doesn't appear to be the case here.

He took a long time to get to the punch line: "AI has fundamentally transformed the tech industry, though, including how we work, how we build products, how we communicate, and more. That does have an impact on how we operate and organize."

So, there it is, finally. Management realized we can do the exact same thing with 20% fewer (more productive) employees. That means the shareholders (including the CEO and the remaining employees), will have a more valuable company. Sorry, we couldn't share this with the 20% we let go, who helped build the company to this point, and we can't even wait for our business to grow into our headcount, which if everything is so rosy, should be a matter of months. So good luck with the "my journey has come to an end, I am so grateful [to have been fired]..." LinkedIn posts!

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keiferski 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I think this is an uncharitable take, and judging by these comments, a pretty common one today on HN – probably because there are less and less founders posting here, and more bitter employees. Patreon isn't IBM, it's not even Google or Amazon. IBM was above even FAANG in its day, it was practically an extension of the US government for decades.

Patreon is in the media/content business. It is perfectly reasonable to think that they have to rethink their company structure with AI completely destroying/changing the way their industry works.

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buellerbueller 2 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

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keiferski 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I hardly think expressing some understanding of the position of a company owner makes me a fan of Ayn Rand.

And just a tip: many of your comments seem to belong on reddit, not here. Different culture, where short obnoxious takes aren't welcome.

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buellerbueller an hour ago | parent [-]

brevity is the soul of wit, brah, but you seem allergic to both. my point, if you insist on me being long-winded about it, was to make an allusion to the fact that you have a positively Randian take on employee-employer relations, where CEOs/founders/owners can do no wrong, and employes are merely "bitter" obstacles that must be dealt with in order for former to receive that which is due to the morally superior. perhaps the reason this take is common on HN is that the version of capitalism that is running its course in the world today is good for only a very few?

personally, i preferred the short version

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keiferski an hour ago | parent [-]

No, that isn't what I said at all, and again – writing short, trollish comments is not really what HN is about.

	▲	buellerbueller an hour ago \| parent [-]
		in my opinion, your version of what HN "is really about" is corrosive to the planet and should be called to account by those who are within it.