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Yahoo Called Its Layoffs a "Remix." Don't Do That.
Nerval's Lobster writes: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, in a conference call with reporters and analysts, referred to the net layoffs of 1,100 employees in the first quarter of 2015 as part of a 'remixing' of the company. A 'remix' is a term most often applied to songs, although it's also appropriate to use in the context of photographs, films, and artwork. CEOs rarely use it to describe something as momentous as a major enterprise's transition, especially if said transition involves layoffs of longtime employees, because it could potentially appear flippant to observers. If you run your own shop (no matter how large), it always pays to choose words as carefully as possible when referring to anything that affects your employees' lives and careers. Despite a renewed focus on mobile and an influx of skilled developers and engineers, Yahoo still struggles to define its place on the modern tech scene; that struggle is no more evident than in the company's most recent quarterly results, which included rising costs, reduced net income, and layoffs.
lol.
You get an extra 10%/month if you've been remixed instead of merely laid off! Yahoo!!
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Don't present a corporate restructuring (including layoffs) like a kick starter campaign.
This impostor needs to go.
It's just a euphemism. I remember working for a company that started embracing offshoring, which they called "right-shoring." Layoffs were called "right-sizing." And the executives were called "cunts." Amazing how just a little "word-smithing" can make things sound better than they really are, huh?
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
They more in line with the mix of skills needed.
The will to work 60-80 hours a week for 30K in CA is a big needed skill in our mix.
And Google is whistling "Under My Thumb" all the way to the bank.
And Walmart is laying off people because of "plumbing issues". Yeah, right.
There's been no real recovery.
I think your sarcasm just flew right past me. She's no captain... unless you're thinking that Costa Concordia's Chicken of the Sea from a few years back (hot damn, never thought I do quote F_x News). I am waiting for an adventuresome CEO to phrase this type of affair as a bad case of diarrhea...
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
divorce and adultery.
Instead of "remixing", perhaps Yahoo should see about working on trying to go for enterprise-tier roles? For example:
1: Secure file transfers, perhaps with receipts that have the file's hash and size that get sent to both parties.
2: Using Yahoo Groups as a method for B2B and official B2C forums with a lot of controls to handle trolls and troublemakers.
3: Customizing Yahoo News for internal company news to find stuff that mattered to that particular firm, such as its clients or suppliers, as well as competition.
4: Work with game companies, so Yahoo could function as a portal for gamer news.
These days... what does Yahoo offer that is unique? This is something that they have to consider, and not just be another player in a crowded field.
I wonder what is coming next, hiring good 'ol Carly Fiorina as "Chief Vision Officer" or something like that? I'm sure that'd improve morale greatly. That worked out so well for HP. (Not that their subsequent two CEO's were much of an improvement...)
Where do CEO's learn to talk like this? Weren't they ever front-line employees who rolled their eyes at the exec-speak? (Judging from the breathless and sycophantic comments I see posted on my company's intranet to every word from our Fearless Leaders, I'd say no.)
Remix, no. Employee uncoupling, yes.
I really don't see what the fuss is about. I have a lot of empathy for people who lost their jobs but software -- especially if you have Yahoo on your resume -- is a booming industry and there are plenty of jobs out there. I honestly can't muster too much sympathy for software developers who are unemployed right now.
That being said, Yahoo did need a "remixing" and whatever word you use to describe it is rather unimportant. I don't see why that was a point of focus in the story. Companies aren't around to just give people jobs for the sake of giving them jobs. If these people weren't important to the eventual strategy and success of Yahoo well...they should go, or be "remixed" or "downsized" or whatever.
It is a job. Like most people..you get one, you will get fired from one.
Life goes on.
remix, fired, laid off...WTF difference does it make? Drop the sensitivity, and just start looking for the next gig. This is life.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
>> influx of skilled developers and engineers, Yahoo still struggles to define its place on the modern tech scene
If it helps put it in context, I recently left a Midwestern tech job and advertised a yahoo email address (rather than one that would have highlighted my moonlighting - ahem) for people who wanted to stay in touch. The number of people who showed up on Twitter to give me shit for still having a Yahoo address was telling.
...since apparently common sense, intelligence, sensitivity and interpersonal skills are not prerequisites for being a CEO of a global company anymore.
Kinda makes me wonder what relevant skills she actually does have.
CEOs like to use special language because they are all sociopaths and have trouble with the truth.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Everything's an app! Flash drives are apps, USB cables are now app cables, and televisions are now App Screens. So why not call layoffs Apps? Apps!
There is an implied:
here, but not in the usual sense of that phrase, but in the way it would be used in Newspeak.
A musical "remix" is almost always longer than the original. As in "extended remix". Almost all musical remixes are "extended remixes", and so we associate the term with expansion, not contraction - with more, not less.
Some very clever Newspeak, Ms. Mayer!
Serious question: what does Yahoo! do that earns them money? I honestly can't name anything off the top of my head.
She's got a serious set of sociopath eyes.
Who let the woman drive?
Let it layoff. It can remix, too.
I have some suggestions for additional terminology. An unprofitable quarter (so in other words, all of them) could just be called "dippin'" Then accidentally serving up crytowall malware through their ad network could be "trippin'" and buying out a company that they think is hot and turns out to be a complete nosedive could be called...um...not really sure on that one but Marissa Mayer is a freaking idiot. Maybe they could call it that. Call it a "Marissa Mayer" when someone royally screws up and loses a ton of money.
GTFO everybody. Rehashing and repackaging isn't going to win this.
I think its clear Mayer is not doing much good as far as the employee's are concerned. Sure, I thought Yahoo needed some house cleaning and labor shrinkage.
But you do what it is needed once and be done with it. No remix or repeat because it looks like you under estimated the numbers that needed to go. Or things are getting worse.
...And I'm layin' down some sick beats with this remix in Q1! Where my laid off people at, yo!? Yeah, yeah, you know who you are! Put your hands up. Laid off people in the hizOUSE! Security! Yeah, unh, you got till the drop hits, then tick-tock, out with the Glock! Knaemean, yo!? Now, where my H-1B's at? Yeah!
Yahoo lost their edge years ago when they failed to see the obvious and tried to out do Google. They missed so badly, it's not funny anymore. If they had a chief executive with a little sense and a lot more than just 'how do I look' in mind, perhaps they could get a unified vision in place and move forward as a company. That will not happen. They missed it completely, and like their fellow hangers-on at AOL, who never completed the transition to broadband well, they will soon be a name in tech's musty dustbin of history before the decade is out. The only thing that people wonder about Yahoo these days is when they will sell out and who to. They are dwarfed in the ad market by many other familiar sites, so what are they hanging around for? Not even the slightest attempt to refine any of their own software (perfect example, Yahoo Messenger) in years, so what are they really doing over there in the bay area anyway? This is the problem that has no direct answer. As to the actual 'remix', it seems like a line straight out of GTA Vice City. We went in a different direction... Yeah, a cheap direction.
Yep, in the words of Sal Goodman we have a dog that won't hunt. The lack of the business model combined with no attractive promises about the company's future make Yahoo the dog of the valley. Go ahead and ask younger folks about where they would like to work in the Valley and you will see that Yahoo may not be on the top of the list.
"Yahoo still struggles to define its place on the modern tech scene...." Maybe, just maybe, Yahoo has no place, and investors would be better served if the company was liquidated and their money returned.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
The author does not understand.
Silicon Valley CEOs don't care about their engineer/tech. employees (as many of them did in the past), hence the poor wording.
Engineers are commodity parts, not people. That is the Silicon Valley way today with few exceptions.
- Anonymous "Part" in Silicon Valley
To her credit, when the employees complained about them being stack ranked at a general meeting (i.e. they vote who is the worse in every team and then fire them), she categorically denied it was stack ranking with no explanations and then proceeded to read a children's book to everyone. That showed a lot of respect to...
No wait...
http://www.businessinsider.com...
Otherwise it will be categorised with our list of You keep using that word word list
Seriously, how is Yahoo still a thing, anyway? The last time they were actually useful was in the '90's!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
It's like beer, some of it goes in the cup ready to be consumed. But then there's the head that just foams up and gets swiped off.
Must feel good the next morning, wife walks in "How do you feel, beer ejecta? Ready for unemployment?" "Yahoo!"
Why is the woman that destroyed HP considered to be presidential material?
Why is all the good stuff already modded 5, when I have mod points?
"Organizationally Displaced" was the euphemism for laid off employees at the large company I worked for once. It sounded so sanitary.
Employees as chattle.
I think calling it a "remix" is reasonable in this case. The idea is Marissa wants to get rid of some of the people hired under the previous CEO and replace it with much more talented people. Abuse of the term is still bad of course.
I thought it was for throw away email accounts
At that time she will come to understand what "remix" means.
It's just a euphemism. I remember working for a company that started embracing offshoring, which they called "right-shoring."
It would be really funny for such terms to evolve into unwittingly offensive terms, like "Economic Colonialism", or "Nerd Trafficking".
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I mean really, is there any doubt what's going on here? A Person-In-Charge is going to cut someone, but they don't want to look bad or feel bad about doing it. It's a negative action with consequences. Maybe it has a positive payoff down the road but that's forecasting the future.
So what do we get? Different words. Misused words. Made up words. Words even, used exactly opposite to their meaning. For instance:
Downsizing. Really, did the company get wet and it shrunk?
Rightsizing. Yeah, because every company wants to get "right" and right means smaller.
De-hiring. Someone wanted the word "hiring" in there, no matter how inappropriate!
Off-shoring. No one wants to say they are taking advantage of poorer people with few choices now, right?
Focusing on Core competencies. We've discovered that we are incompetent outside of our core! What is this, an exercise plan?
Remix. Is your company a remake of others intellectual property, without originality? Or a sampled rap spectacular, complete with crude language, excessive attitude and over-the-top fashion choices?
Reboot. I've not seen this one yet but it's coming. Hollywood can't get enough of these and if it's good for Hollywood then it's good for the corporate boardroom!
Mergers. Looking for "synergies and leveraging our market penetration, using Other People's Money". See Acquisition.
Acquisition. See Mergers, specifically the note on Acquisition. This is not an infinite loop, repeat, this is not an infinite loop, repeat,...
Divestment. Looking to "maximize the value proposition and focus on core competencies." Ignore the logic non-sequitur that this is the opposite argument for M&A. The goal is to win the argument, not to make sense!
Rip. Mix. Burn.
Not a mashup, that leaves you with something more.
The Invisible Hand of the Free Market is what punches workers in the nuts.
Chooo! Scuse me. What a corny thing to say.
... she's just refactoring the coders
Time to remix my search engines and never use Yahoo! (or affiliated products) again. After reading "When Google Met Wikileaks" by Assange, I will add google to that mix.
"SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
Marissa is cold as a stone. She lacks feelings and human emotions. She is a fem bot.
Am I right in thinking it was Yahoo who spearheaded the mealy-mouthed use of sunset to mean terminate?
On Web 2.0, nothing is ever cancelled, closed, or shut-down. Only ever sunsetted.
This is is the same woman who hates remote workers and wants engineers and developers watching the clock, chained to a desk in a prison-cubicle. This is the once-great company that now only is afloat because it bought a massive Chinese online shopping portal and some other smart purchases. Yahoo's own products are irrelevant. I want to see this company fail. It will.
...when executives use euphemisms like "right-sizing." (I have never heard of a company that "right-sized" by hiring more employees). Even "layoff" is a euphemism because a "layoff" means a temporary suspension. "We'll have to let you go" means that you want to leave and they are reluctantly but graciously acceding to your wishes.
They may be trying to make themselves feel more comfortable by pretending they aren't doing something hurtful to their employees.
As for how it makes employees feel, I wish I could find the origin of a wonderful quotation... but someone, possibly W. Somerset Maugham, once said "Don't hand me a turd and tell me it's a profiterole" (creampuff).
...when executives use euphemisms like "right-sizing." (I have never heard of a company that "right-sized" by hiring more employees). Even "layoff" is a euphemism because a "layoff" means a temporary suspension. "We'll have to let you go" means that you want to leave and they are reluctantly but graciously acceding to your wishes.
They may be trying to make themselves feel more comfortable by pretending they aren't doing something hurtful to their employees.
As for how it makes employees feel, I wish I could find the origin of a wonderful quotation... but someone, possibly W. Somerset Maugham, once said "Don't hand me a turd and tell me it's a profiterole" (creampuff).
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
I'd really love to go work there Seriously, they need to remix Marissa Mayer right on out of there. She's not been beneficial to the company.
http://gawker.com/5987043/yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer-installed-a-nursery-in-her-office
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
and now the photos only show 2 members instead of 10
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
I have laid off more people than I care to admit to since I entered management. I know these posts keep saying things like management are inhuman, we throw people to the wolves, and we use it as a time to trim people we don't like. I am sure for some managers that is true (there are always bad apples to spoil the bunch everywhere). I found I rarely had a choice who to lay off. The finance and human resources upper management would rack and stack the employees. Any choice I had usually would be a question of (you can let person A or person B go, your pick, but you can't keep both). That is a tough, haunting decision, that I get stuck with now. Do I let person A who just started a family and had a new baby go...or person B who just sent a kid to college and bought a new house? Moreso when both are good performers. Layoffs are not fun, nor pleasurable for management (at least middle management) types. While it certainly does not compare to losing your job, it is still tough letting people go, then dealing with the aftermath and increased workload with less staff. Management are not automatons, they are human too, and most do not take any pleasure in sitting in meetings and laying people off. I never liked it, but realized it was part of the job, and just try to not stay numb to it so that if I rise above middle management into the executive ranks, perhaps I can retain my humanity and look for any reasonable options before taking payroll cuts.
Remix as a euphemism for axing humans is topped only by the State Department's firing program which is called right-sizing rather than down-sizing.
but what does Yahoo even *do* these days? I don't remember using a Yahoo product since...Middle school?
since that woman is head of yahoo, yahoo email just gets worse and worse - I switched now to mail.ru. It is unbelievable when you compare the two: mail.ru with a fast and modern interface, very good tools, does not log you out when you are on holiday in a foreign country (yes, this happens, particularly in Europe), etc etc. yahoo email has become a load of siht. It is not believable that they don't get it right - are/is they/she stupid ??? look like it.