It's weird to be commenting instead of lurking for once, but I actually work/worked for Wayfair, so I can share a bit of insight into this. I think. “Working long hours, being responsive, blending...
Exemplary
It's weird to be commenting instead of lurking for once, but I actually work/worked for Wayfair, so I can share a bit of insight into this. I think. “Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from" was actually like, the anti-thesis of my experience. I was a SWE co-op for 6 months there, and I actually got and signed a return offer that I'm really excited for.
When I was on co-op, I was never, ever asked to do anything unreasonable, and to quote my manager "needing you to stay late is indicative of poor management, not poor performance". There were literally big Wayfair-Purple posters on the wall of every floor of our Copley office saying "it's ok to say no" and the like, that pushback and offering counter-ideas/proposals was healthy for the office energy. I was there during the first of the two layoffs, and while my team wasn't touched it was quite unpleasant. The layoffs came out of nowhere, internally speaking, and my manager wasn't actually even sure if my team was intact (save myself, as the temps were exempt) until late into the day of the announcement.
This article actually kinda has me worried that they might pull the offer if they're going to be tightening the belt on payroll any further. Of all my friends who recently graduated, I'm quite literally the only one with a position that I/they'd look forward to. All of us graduated w/ a year's worth of co-op experience, for clarity. One has a position w/ a military supplier in a really crappy location for a young 20-something, and the other is literally a janitor. Most passionate guy in CS I know and he couldn't get a job for almost a year. Only in the past few weeks has he gotten any bites for interviews. I get that media is usually doom-and-gloom for clicks, but this really bums me out. I'm hoping this more indicative of a miscommunication (from my experience, management there seems to kinda have half a foot in their mouth perpetually save for Steve Conine) rather than a shift to a rise-and-grind type of organization.
Also worked at Wayfair, 2017-2020, as a SWE, and I also experienced a strong culture of “What are you still doing here at 5(:30), it’s not that serious, go home right now”. Upper management...
Also worked at Wayfair, 2017-2020, as a SWE, and I also experienced a strong culture of “What are you still doing here at 5(:30), it’s not that serious, go home right now”. Upper management definitely leaned a bit sociopath, but in general most of the teams I worked on had decent managers who cared about their people’s wellbeing.
Niraj sent out “story time” emails like this weekly, I believe, most with a theme of “work hard, work smart”.
Not to defend the company—it was and is kind of a mess—but we all learned to basically tune out these emails from Niraj and co.
Try asking around about the “WayThrifty” one. lol.
So, we all get that Shah is completely wrong and there's no factual basis for... Well, anything in that email. It's great rage bait for us, a good ego boost for Shah and likely won't impact......
So, we all get that Shah is completely wrong and there's no factual basis for... Well, anything in that email. It's great rage bait for us, a good ego boost for Shah and likely won't impact... Well, anything to be frank.
So, what would be the actual desired outcome? If the staff threatened to quit following these comments then likely the CEO would be removed and there'd be the implicit "Don't say this to your workers anymore" but it's unlikely it would stop their layoffs or short-term behavior. No politicians in today's climate are going to actually stand up in a meaningful way in defense of the employees. Can the whole company unionize against the CEO or something?
What is the way forward for employees in this situation other than "ignore and keep doing what you're doing" because obviously this email isn't going to motivate anyone... Well, not any employee worth motivating.
I assume the desired outcome would be the employees working hard for no additional pay with the implicit threat being they will lose their job if they don't. I think there are ways to ask the same...
I assume the desired outcome would be the employees working hard for no additional pay with the implicit threat being they will lose their job if they don't.
I think there are ways to ask the same thing as a CEO that land better. Our CEO basically did the same thing at an all hands last year but it came off a lot better than this email.
Wow, that's a bummer, totally understandable venting! For full time staff of a lot of these major companies in the US, severance is 3-6 months salary. It's not insignificant for the bottom line if...
Wow, that's a bummer, totally understandable venting!
For full time staff of a lot of these major companies in the US, severance is 3-6 months salary. It's not insignificant for the bottom line if folks "lay themselves off" and targets workers who are probably already on the fence about leaving. It's a really shitty way of clearing house, but that's what this smells like to me.
“Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from,” Shah wrote in the email obtained by the Globe. “There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.”
The message follows weekly layoffs of dozens of workers over the past few months at the online furniture seller. Previously, Wayfair cut 1,750 jobs, or 10 percent of its workforce, in January and 870 jobs in August, 2022.
There is not a lot of history of people being justly rewarded for working long hours, being responsive, and blending work and life, either. A very few are fortunate enough to be recognized, but...
There is not a lot of history of people being justly rewarded for working long hours, being responsive, and blending work and life, either. A very few are fortunate enough to be recognized, but anyone can find themselves on the chopping block whenever it's convenient for an employer to cut headcount.
So what's in it for the employees, besides an unreliable paycheck? If the pandemic taught us anything, it's that there's nothing in a job worth sacrificing life, family, and friends for.
It's weird to be commenting instead of lurking for once, but I actually work/worked for Wayfair, so I can share a bit of insight into this. I think. “Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from" was actually like, the anti-thesis of my experience. I was a SWE co-op for 6 months there, and I actually got and signed a return offer that I'm really excited for.
When I was on co-op, I was never, ever asked to do anything unreasonable, and to quote my manager "needing you to stay late is indicative of poor management, not poor performance". There were literally big Wayfair-Purple posters on the wall of every floor of our Copley office saying "it's ok to say no" and the like, that pushback and offering counter-ideas/proposals was healthy for the office energy. I was there during the first of the two layoffs, and while my team wasn't touched it was quite unpleasant. The layoffs came out of nowhere, internally speaking, and my manager wasn't actually even sure if my team was intact (save myself, as the temps were exempt) until late into the day of the announcement.
This article actually kinda has me worried that they might pull the offer if they're going to be tightening the belt on payroll any further. Of all my friends who recently graduated, I'm quite literally the only one with a position that I/they'd look forward to. All of us graduated w/ a year's worth of co-op experience, for clarity. One has a position w/ a military supplier in a really crappy location for a young 20-something, and the other is literally a janitor. Most passionate guy in CS I know and he couldn't get a job for almost a year. Only in the past few weeks has he gotten any bites for interviews. I get that media is usually doom-and-gloom for clicks, but this really bums me out. I'm hoping this more indicative of a miscommunication (from my experience, management there seems to kinda have half a foot in their mouth perpetually save for Steve Conine) rather than a shift to a rise-and-grind type of organization.
Also worked at Wayfair, 2017-2020, as a SWE, and I also experienced a strong culture of “What are you still doing here at 5(:30), it’s not that serious, go home right now”. Upper management definitely leaned a bit sociopath, but in general most of the teams I worked on had decent managers who cared about their people’s wellbeing.
Niraj sent out “story time” emails like this weekly, I believe, most with a theme of “work hard, work smart”.
Not to defend the company—it was and is kind of a mess—but we all learned to basically tune out these emails from Niraj and co.
Try asking around about the “WayThrifty” one. lol.
So, we all get that Shah is completely wrong and there's no factual basis for... Well, anything in that email. It's great rage bait for us, a good ego boost for Shah and likely won't impact... Well, anything to be frank.
So, what would be the actual desired outcome? If the staff threatened to quit following these comments then likely the CEO would be removed and there'd be the implicit "Don't say this to your workers anymore" but it's unlikely it would stop their layoffs or short-term behavior. No politicians in today's climate are going to actually stand up in a meaningful way in defense of the employees. Can the whole company unionize against the CEO or something?
What is the way forward for employees in this situation other than "ignore and keep doing what you're doing" because obviously this email isn't going to motivate anyone... Well, not any employee worth motivating.
I assume the desired outcome would be the employees working hard for no additional pay with the implicit threat being they will lose their job if they don't.
I think there are ways to ask the same thing as a CEO that land better. Our CEO basically did the same thing at an all hands last year but it came off a lot better than this email.
Tinfoil hat: Don't layoffs come with severance whereas quitting doesn't?
Wow, that's a bummer, totally understandable venting!
For full time staff of a lot of these major companies in the US, severance is 3-6 months salary. It's not insignificant for the bottom line if folks "lay themselves off" and targets workers who are probably already on the fence about leaving. It's a really shitty way of clearing house, but that's what this smells like to me.
There is not a lot of history of people being justly rewarded for working long hours, being responsive, and blending work and life, either. A very few are fortunate enough to be recognized, but anyone can find themselves on the chopping block whenever it's convenient for an employer to cut headcount.
So what's in it for the employees, besides an unreliable paycheck? If the pandemic taught us anything, it's that there's nothing in a job worth sacrificing life, family, and friends for.
Kind of ridiculous to say when Waymo engineers can switch over to Google and get a reasonable work/life balance.
Wayfair is an online retail marketplace, while Waymo is a self driving car startup. The article is about the former.
Oh wow my bad. Must have been switching tabs too quickly!
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.is/7Ss1W