zlacker

>>fancy_+(OP)
The strangest part to me about the current trends: why do all these business leaders all do the same things at the same time? E.g. Layoffs + micromanagement + cost focus etc... Is this truly about macroeconomic forces that every business is responding to? Or is it just following the latest fad?

There seems to be significant opportunity to zig as others zag. Imagine the Intel letter saying "we are going to take advantage of the current hiring environment to scoop up talent, and push forward on initiatives."

>>johnga+ec
Competition. If all your competitors are doing something that you want to do but know will piss off your employees, you can safely do it too and know that they don't have anywhere else to go. Most of these big tech companies operate in markets with huge barriers to entry and very differentiated skillsets; a new competitor isn't going to spring up overnight without some form of warning.

Most hired executives play not to lose rather than playing to win; the nature of their compensation packages incentivizes it, where big wins accrue largely to diffuse shareholders while big losses mean they lose their fat executive pay package. It takes a founder-CEO to play to win, but if the hired CEO had that skillset and that inclination, they'd be a founder rather than a CEO.