GOOGLE LAYOFFS - developers fired before developer conference...
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of The Daily Blob, the host discusses the impact of rising interest rates on high net worth individuals and the tech industry, leading to shifts in investment from riskier assets to bonds. He highlights the layoffs at tech giants like Tesla and Google, emphasizing that these are not isolated events but part of a larger trend. Google's layoffs, particularly in teams like Flutter, Dart, and Python, are framed as a reorganization to streamline operations and focus on core priorities. The host also speculates on the implications for programming languages and APIs, suggesting that tech professionals should be aware of these shifts in the industry landscape.
Takeaways
- 🌐 The host discusses the impact of AI on the tech industry, suggesting that people should not worry excessively about AI as it is a feature set to be integrated into systems rather than a job replacement threat.
- 📉 The speaker highlights the importance of interest rates, especially for high net worth individuals, as they affect investment decisions between bonds and riskier assets like stocks, startups, and emerging markets.
- 💼 The video mentions layoffs in tech companies like Tesla and Google, indicating a shift in the job market and a possible sign of economic changes.
- 🔄 Google's layoffs are framed as a part of restructuring to become more efficient and focused on key priorities, rather than a company-wide issue.
- 🛠️ The host emphasizes that tech companies have been adding employees for the sake of appearances to attract investors, which may not be sustainable in the long term.
- 👨💼 There's a discussion about the impersonal nature of layoffs in large corporations, where entire departments can be cut without personal consideration.
- 🔧 The script talks about the role of Python in AI and the potential implications of Google's layoffs on the Python team, suggesting that programming languages are tools subject to change based on company needs.
- 🔄 The host speculates on the possibility of a shift in programming language focus, such as from Python to Rust, as companies evolve their technology stacks.
- 🤔 The video raises questions about the future of tech jobs, suggesting that the industry may be overstaffed and due for a correction.
- 💡 The speaker shares an anecdote about an investor's strategy, illustrating how the influx of venture capital has led to an unsustainable growth in the tech sector.
- 🧩 The host concludes by contemplating the normalization of the tech industry, hinting at potential downsizing and a return to more traditional economic principles.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed in the 'Daily blob' episode?
-The main topic discussed in the episode is the impact of AI on jobs, the concern over AI in the technology world, and the shift of investments from tech companies to bonds due to rising interest rates.
Why is there a shift from tech investments to bonds?
-There is a shift from tech investments to bonds because interest rates have risen significantly, making bonds a more attractive option for high net worth individuals who are looking for safer investments with a decent return.
What does the speaker suggest about the layoffs in tech companies?
-The speaker suggests that layoffs in tech companies are not necessarily a bad sign, but rather a part of the natural ebb and flow of business, especially as companies reassess their priorities and resources.
How does the speaker view the role of AI in the current tech landscape?
-The speaker views AI as a feature set or functionality that should be integrated into systems, rather than something to be feared. They argue that AI will change how things are designed and implemented, but it's not something to worry about excessively.
What is the significance of the layoffs at Google mentioned in the script?
-The significance of the layoffs at Google is that they are happening across key teams like Flutter, Dart, and Python, which are important for the company's developer ecosystem. This indicates a strategic realignment within Google's priorities.
What does the speaker imply about the tech industry's hiring practices?
-The speaker implies that the tech industry's hiring practices have been inflated, with companies adding employees not necessarily because of actual need but to appear as growing businesses to investors.
What is the potential implication of Google laying off staff from Flutter, Dart, and Python teams?
-The potential implication is that Google might be streamlining its operations and focusing on its core priorities, possibly indicating a shift in the company's strategy regarding these technologies.
What does the speaker suggest about the future of programming languages like Python?
-The speaker suggests that programming languages are tools and that their importance can shift based on the needs of the industry. If companies like Google start reducing their Python teams, it could indicate a change in how APIs and services are managed in the future.
How does the speaker describe the current state of the tech job market?
-The speaker describes the current state of the tech job market as potentially over-saturated, with too many professionals working in the field due to an extended period of investment-driven growth.
What advice does the speaker give to tech professionals regarding job security?
-The speaker advises tech professionals to understand that getting fired is not necessarily a reflection of their abilities or worth, but rather a common-sense business decision that companies make based on their needs and resources.
Outlines
🌐 Tech Industry Insights and AI Concerns
In this segment, the host of 'The Daily Blob' discusses the tech industry's current state, addressing concerns about AI's impact on jobs. The host advises against excessive worry about AI, emphasizing that it's a tool to be integrated into systems, similar to other functionalities. The conversation shifts to the impact of interest rates on investment strategies, particularly for high net worth individuals. The host explains how ultra-low interest rates influenced investment in riskier assets and the subsequent shift back to bonds as rates rise. This economic trend is linked to recent layoffs in tech giants like Tesla and Google, suggesting that interest rates might have a more significant effect on job security than AI advancements.
📉 Google's Layoffs and Tech Industry Realignment
This paragraph delves into Google's recent staff reductions, specifically within the Flutter, Dart, and Python teams, ahead of the company's developer conference. The host highlights Google's official statement about these layoffs being a part of a reorganization aimed at increasing efficiency and focusing on key priorities. The speaker critiques tech companies for over-hiring in the past to attract investors and warns of the consequences of this practice as the industry faces a downturn. The host also touches on the impersonal nature of corporate layoffs, using the story of a Microsoft employee's experience as an example. The paragraph concludes with a discussion about the importance of programming languages like Python in the tech industry and the potential implications of Google's reorganization on its API services.
🛠 The Shifting Landscape of Programming Languages
The host compares Python's role in the current tech landscape to PHP's dominance during the Web 2.0 era, emphasizing how programming languages are tools to solve specific problems and interact with various resources. The discussion explores how Python became a preferred language for API interactions and the potential impact of Google's layoffs on Python's role within the company. The speaker speculates on the possibility of a shift towards other languages like Rust and what that could mean for technology professionals. The paragraph also touches on the broader implications of such shifts on the tech industry and the importance for professionals to adapt to these changes.
💡 Reflections on the Tech Bubble and Career Implications
In the final paragraph, the host reflects on the tech industry's growth and the potential bubble, suggesting that the sector may have too many professionals and that a normalization could lead to significant job losses. The speaker criticizes the focus on investment and growth over profitability and the impact this has had on the quality of work and the inflated sense of job security among tech professionals. The host also discusses the potential long-term effects of this bubble on the tech industry and the importance for individuals to consider these factors when planning their careers in technology.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡AI
💡Interest Rates
💡Layoffs
💡Flutter
💡Dart
💡Python
💡Reorgs
💡Investment
💡APIs
💡Rust
Highlights
The host discusses the impact of AI on jobs and advises people to integrate AI as a feature set into their systems.
The episode emphasizes the importance of interest rates and their influence on investment portfolios, particularly for high net worth individuals.
A shift in investment trends is highlighted, with money moving from high-risk asset classes back to bonds due to increased interest rates.
The host mentions layoffs at Tesla and Google, suggesting that economic conditions are affecting the tech industry.
Google's layoffs are detailed, with specific teams like Flutter, Dart, and Python being affected weeks before Google's developer conference.
A Google spokesperson confirms the layoffs, stating that the company is focusing on its biggest priorities and opportunities ahead.
The host explains that tech companies added 'fluff' in the form of extra employees to attract investor money.
The impact of layoffs on individual employees is discussed, with a focus on the impersonal nature of such business decisions.
A specific case of a department-wide layoff at Microsoft is shared to illustrate the scale and impersonality of corporate restructuring.
The host speculates on the potential implications of Google's restructuring for Python APIs and the tech community.
The episode raises concerns about the future of programming languages and the need for tech professionals to adapt.
Google's decision to replace the Python team with a group based in Munich is criticized for its potential impact on American jobs.
The host argues that there are too many people working in the tech field and predicts a normalization and potential downsizing.
The role of investors and their 'Moneyball' approach to startup funding is critiqued for creating an unsustainable tech boom.
The episode concludes with a call for tech professionals to consider the realities of the industry and prepare for potential changes.
Transcripts
welcome back to another episode of The
Daily blob where I come on to YouTube
for 30 to 60 minutes a day and go ra
about the things that are going on in
the world and Tech of technology and
business and those types of things if
you like these videos do remember to
subscribe give us a thumbs up leave a
comment and if you want to throw Roxy
some dog biscuits there is a donor box
link down below and uh and yeah the
world the world keeps getting better I
have been informed by the administration
the world keeps getting better your job
is great why because that's what they
need in order to win the election
anyways one of the things that I've been
talking about for a while is I hear a
lot of people in the technology world
and they're really worried about AI
they're like Eli Eli what do I have to
do to protect my job from Ai and one of
the things that I keep arguing is buckos
stop worrying about AI so much AI is a
feature set AI is a piece of
functionality you integrate it into your
systems the way you integrate SMS or any
of this other crap into your systems
will it change how things are designed
and implemented yes but that's the tech
world that's the tech world the thing
you got to be far more concerned about
is interest rates right uh basically
with interest rates this relates to
bonds so when you're a high net worth
individual and you have a crap ton of
money there's something called a Balan
portfol folio you put some of your money
into bonds highly liquid asset that only
has a little bit of a return uh most of
your uh your assets go into what are
called equities uh basically stocks you
know high possibility for return also
High volatility questionable uh
liquidity and basically we had interest
rates at zero for a decade or so and so
basically people had to move money out
of bonds up into what were called
riskier asset classes the brics Nations
emerging comp economies and startups and
that type of thing basically they were
trying to do something called chasing
returns well the thing is we now have
interest rates up at like 7% or whatever
and so high net worth individuals can
stop dealing with the jackasses in
Silicon Valley that they never liked to
begin with they can start moving their
money back into bonds and so there is
the great sucking sound as money goes
out of highrisk asset classes and goes
back to good oldfashioned bonds because
that that's where everybody wanted to
park their money anyway because again
they want to park their money they want
to put their money somewhere and just
have it get a nice little return every
year and then if they need to sell it
they want to be able to sell it very
easily and very quickly so the uh the
interest rates are going to be the real
killer and what we're seeing is more and
more and more layoffs the last video I
did was talking about even more layoffs
at Tesla Tesla already decided they're
going to lay off 14,000 employees and
now they're going to lay off even more
employees on top of that right because
because the economy is going so well and
we go over here we take a look at this
and Google is laying off staff the
interesting thing about these particular
layoffs though is we're starting to see
smaller and smaller and smaller layoffs
instead of 20,000 people or 10,000
people layoff it's 100 people laid off
here it's 50 people laid off here that
type of thing one of the issues that you
can run into with these types of layoffs
though is that if they're laying off
people the question is is how much are
they hiring so whenever you look at the
layoffs it's not simply that people are
getting fired but is the business hiring
because if people are laying off and
nobody else is hiring then you're what
is called unemployed possibly
unemployable but this is kind of
interesting so Google Google right the
the company the most amazing company you
know in the world for technology where
everybody wants to work until they get
fired is doing more layoffs Google lays
off staff from flutter Dart and python
teams weeks before for its developer
conference oh that must suck hey guys
the developer conference is coming up
who's
excited oh Bob why aren't you excited
because he got laid off oh that would be
a reason uh so yeah so basically before
the developer conference uh so flutter
flutter is their you know right ones
deploy anywhere uh react native that
type of thing that is their version uh
Dart is a programming language and
python is obviously a programming langu
language uh if we come down here ahead
of Google's annual IO developer
conference in May the tech giant has
laid off staff across key teams like
flutter Dart Python and others according
to reports from affected employees
shared on social media Google confirmed
the layoffs to Tech crunch quote as
we've said
we're responsibly investing in our
company's biggest priorities and the
significant opportunities ahead said
Google spokesperson uh Alex Garcia uh to
best position us for these opportunities
throughout the second half of 2023 and
into 2024 a number of our teams made
changes to become more efficient and
work better remove layers and assign
align their resources to their biggest
product priorities through this we're
simplifying our structures to give
employees more opportunity to work on
our most Innovative and important
advances and our biggest company
priorities while reducing bureaucracy
and layers he added so basically what
we've seen with a lot of these Tech
companies over the past number of years
is they added fluff right they added
extra employees not because they needed
employees to actually complete a task
but because they were going after that
investor money right look you should
hand us more money buy more equity in
our startup or company because we're
growing and you can tell we're growing
because we've got more employees right
so Facebook and Google and startups and
all of these companies were trying to
increase their headcount not because it
actually helped to shove a product out
the door because it looked good for
investors again something important to
be thinking about with the company that
you're working at is how do they get
their money there's no right or wrong
good or evil with this but it's
important to understand why money walks
in the door and so because the issue is
right now as investors you know are
putting more money back into bonds as
they're trying to to to reallocate their
portfolios into something that's that's
that's more sane I would argue there's
less and less money for a lot of the
Moon shot operations and that type of
thing and so basically what you have is
the tech companies and even large tech
companies basically trying to to quote
unquote write their headcount so the
important thing to understand right now
is it's not IST when you get fired right
when you're looking at this this isn't
IST and this isn't bad and that isn't
any of that when you got hired that was
the
IST they were stupid to hire you to
begin with fire you is actually common
sense that's one of the hard things to
do with a lot of new tech employees they
don't seem to get it they're like oh
it's so evil it's so wrong I got fired a
bucker you getting fired isn't evil or
wrong you getting hired was what yeah
you shouldn't have gotten hired to begin
with jackass but anyways uh the company
clarified the layoffs were not company
wi but were reorgs that are part of the
normal course of business and there's
one thing you have to be careful about
with these large corporations again I
talk about Jerry Berg um uh nerd
nerdgasm is he still on YouTube I don't
know what happened to him is he still
alive anyways a few years ago uh he got
laid off uh from Microsoft uh and
basically he had awards from Microsoft
right he had Awards he had got him
bonuses he had been doing really good at
Microsoft uh and then one day to be
clear he did not get laid off Microsoft
brought like 2500 people from his
Department into an AIT tum and told them
the entire department had been cut so
when he got when he got booted from
Microsoft it literally was not personal
they got rid of the entire damn
department and again this is something
that you have to be careful about with
your career because a lot of people
right we have this idea again there's
this idea in Silicon Valley and all
these companies this
meritocracy I created XY or
Z it's like well no sometimes sometimes
they just get rid of of an apartment
sometimes they hire you because they
need ass in seat and sometimes you get
fired because they don't need Department
it is surprisingly an inpersonal
business uh in one exp post at PM from
flutter and dart said the layoffs had
affected quote a lot of teams and that
lots of great projects lost people in a
separate post on Reddit another
commenter noted the python team affected
by the layoffs were those who manage the
internal python run times and and Tool
chains
and worked with OSS python uh included
in this group were multiple current and
former core devs and steering council
members they said uh so this will be an
interesting thing to look at and see
what happens uh with python again
remember with any programming language
programming languages are simply tools
you use the tool required to to do the
job a lot of the reasons that people use
Python is because there are Python apis
and so one of the things to keep an eye
on with this is if it looks like they're
cutting the python team one of the
questions you have to ask yourself is
what what does that mean for the python
apis so if you have built built your
system using python because I love
python I love python python is my new
favorite language again because it talks
to everything talks to apis talks to the
operating system talks to your data
stores basically it's kind of like the
super glue of the modern world that's
one of the reasons people like to use
Python it's not that they like to use
Python they like to interact with AI
they like to be able to send messages
with SMS they like to do the services
that python allows them to do again if
you look at it I think python is
basically the way that I would look at
it almost PHP 2.0 right PHP was really
good in the Web 2.0 era where you owned
all of your resources you owned your
database you owned your servers you
owned your data store in that world PHP
worked really well to be able to build
Dynamic web applications because you
could pull from all the stuff that you
already owned we go into the web 3.0
world where we start talking about apis
service oriented archit Ure right in
that world uh you're connecting with
other people's Services again you're
connecting with twilio and syrid and
open Ai and that those types of things
and in that world just how it worked out
is most of these companies built their
apis for python again that's the
important thing you have to understand
is oh what programming language do I use
to interact with this
API whatever language they're telling
you to use essentially unless it comes
to curl and curl is its own little world
right uh but anyways right so one of the
interesting things though is that's kind
of how the world shifts with programming
languages you're trying to set solve a
certain set of problems there are
resources that allow you to solve those
certain set of problems and there are
specific tools that allow you to
communicate with those resources
currently python is one of the major
tools out there so something just to
keep in mind if you a programmer a
technology professional if they start
cutting the python
team does that mean they're looking for
a revamp for how their API work not
necessarily the apis or not necessarily
the systems that they currently have in
the apis but as they go into the future
so rust rust is you know rust is one of
those cool sexy new languages oh you
don't know
rust anyways right does this mean that
they're going to start shifting again
focus into a different programming
language and so this is just something
that you kind of have to consider with
your career and everything else uh
though Google didn't detail headcount
some of the layout of Google may have
been confirmed in a warrant notice filed
in April 24th warrant of the California
worker adjustment and retraining
notification act requires employers with
more than 100 employees to provide
60-day notice in advance of layoffs in
the filing Google said it was laying off
a total of 50 employees across three
locations in Sunnyvale so again this
doesn't seem like a lot but it starts it
starts adding up 50 here 100 here 10,000
there and if they're laying people off
are they hiring that's a more important
thing for any of young folks out there
uh on social media commenters raised
concerns with the python layoffs in
particular given the role that python
tooling plays in AI but others point out
that Google didn't eliminate its python
team it replaced that team with another
group based in
Munich yay so they replace the python
team with somebody in a different
country because that's going to go over
well in the modern world wow I didn't
know Google was trying to get Trump
elected good for you Google who knew
Google was a trump supporter yeah what
we're going to do is we're going to
Outsource his American coding jobs to
another country that'll get people
pissed off uh quote it's a tough day
when everyone you work with directly
including your manager is laid off
excuse me had their roles reduced and
you're asked to on board The
Replacements people told to take those
very same roles just in a different
country who are not any happier about it
uh uh so yeah that is what is going on
Google Google is doing a little bit of
that corporate
Shuffle and again when you're when
you're a coder what what is it they said
it said in Avengers Loki said in
Avengers the boot has no quarrel with
the ant guess what buckos you're the
ant right when somebody drops a sandwich
on the ground and you get a feast that
has nothing to do with you when the boot
crushes you and your entire family that
also has damn near nothing to do with
you it's a whole world that you have
almost no interaction with um so I'll be
curious to see how this goes and again
where this goes for the tech sector one
of the things I've said for many years
is basically uh again with coding and
the rest of it basically we have too
many people working in the field I
honestly believe probably about 2016
2017 we had enough what I know it's iCal
to say such a thing I really think we
got about enough technology
Professionals in about 2016 2017 right
uh because again our jobs are to solve
problems and there's really only so many
good problems out there to solve but
here's the thing you get the investors
they want to throw their money in they
want their shot of being able to invest
in the next Facebook and so they start
investing in a whole bunch of different
things again I I heard an interview
years ago and it was a very successful
angel investor and they were talking
about how he did it and he said it was
basically a numbers game now listen to
these numbers listen to these numbers so
basically he said he would invest in 60
60
companies and he expected two of them to
be home
runs basically some of them would make a
little bit of profit some of them would
break even most by far would absolutely
fail but if he could get two home runs
out of 66 Z
Investments then he was sitting pretty
because again if you invest in the next
Facebook right so if Facebook goes from
a dollar a share to uh you know whatever
it was let's say $400 a share at one
point in time right that if you invested
$110,000 in it and it goes to $400 a
share that's 4 million
for every $10,000 you invested so you
put $100,000 in there you're walking
away with $40 million and that's one
investment so you get two of those that
comes out to $80
million and so you know even if you
wasted a lot of money to get to that $80
million you still come out with quite a
bit of profit um the problem is is
that's just that's just ridiculous and
one of the issues is one of the things
you have to be thinking about for your
career is that means all this money came
into these startups not through Revenue
they were not getting profit because
they didn't have Revenue they were
getting it from all of these investors
with literally with a Money Ball mindset
of two home runs for every 60 and what
you got to be thinking about that is how
many node coders today have jobs not
because they're good not because the
product they're working on makes half an
ounce of sense not because they're
they're they're founders
know the difference between a TCP port
and a USB port right but because because
the investors were willing to Shell out
that money and now as that money stops
flowing then again if you don't if the
money is coming in from investment and
you do not have Revenue therefore you
don't have profit all of a sudden you're
going to be dealing with you know the
the normal state of Economics um and
again I think this is going to be
devastating for the for the tech world
because we've had so many people and
again this point in time like it's gone
on for so long right again even with
the.com boom do com boom really didn't
last that long like maybe four or five
years uh so even with the stupidity
right the stupidity didn't allow people
to get their brains too rotted but if
you look at this we've been in this
idiotic boom cycle or bull cycle uh for
for the tech world again since about
2009 we're looking at 14 or 15 years
we're talking about Professionals in the
tech world that have spent a decade
getting paid for piss poor results and
getting
bonuses getting bonuses for piss poor
results and getting pats on the head for
piss poor results and they think they're
doing a good job because they're making
more money the the idea of shipping a
product oh hell no their job is not to
ship a product their job isn't to
actually bring profit to the company no
their job is to sit there and be a good
boy bat on the
head and so the Curious Thing is what's
going to happen when all of this uh
devolves cuz I think we have way way way
too many people in the tech sector and I
think we're just going to we're just
going to start to see see that
destruction uh as everything has to
normalize would be my thought so there
any anyways there you go Google is
laying off their developers right before
the developer conference how do you feel
about that how do you feel about them
getting rid of python folks or moving
python folks or whatever do you think
there is the next great API language
does everybody now Mo need to move from
python to rust or whatever the hell else
uh I don't know put your thoughts down
below again if you like these videos
give us a thumbs up and with that I'll
see you at the next show
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