<story><title>Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100</title><url>https://blog.yelp.com/2020/04/planning-for-yelps-future</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>chrisseaton</author><text>&amp;gt; The first person who gets laid off is going to immediately call The New York Times, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, etc&lt;p&gt;Why do people do this? What do they get out of it? They don&amp;#x27;t pay for tip-offs do they? Seems unethical anyway.</text></item><item><author>jrockway</author><text>The first person who gets laid off is going to immediately call The New York Times, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, etc. with probably-incorrect information about the layoffs.  So PR wants to be out ahead of that.  The real world doesn&amp;#x27;t have atomic transactions, so you have to pick between that scenario and one where some people are worried about their job for a few hours.</text></item><item><author>duggable</author><text>&amp;gt; Today we will let 1,000 of our colleagues go and furlough approximately 1,100 more, while reducing hours for others. Your department leaders will be in touch this morning to discuss how this affects you individually, and letters with more details and FAQs will follow this afternoon.&lt;p&gt;Honest question - is it normal to announce layoffs publicly before telling the affected employees?  I guess I can understand it from a PR perspective, but it must be awful to read that and sit around waiting to find out if you&amp;#x27;re affected.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Loughla</author><text>Revenge? Spite? A feeling of importance and control in a situation completely out of their control? Shits and giggles?&lt;p&gt;Not sure angry human beings are the most rational actors in most cases.</text></comment>
<story><title>Yelp lays off 1000, furloughs 1100</title><url>https://blog.yelp.com/2020/04/planning-for-yelps-future</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>chrisseaton</author><text>&amp;gt; The first person who gets laid off is going to immediately call The New York Times, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, etc&lt;p&gt;Why do people do this? What do they get out of it? They don&amp;#x27;t pay for tip-offs do they? Seems unethical anyway.</text></item><item><author>jrockway</author><text>The first person who gets laid off is going to immediately call The New York Times, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, etc. with probably-incorrect information about the layoffs.  So PR wants to be out ahead of that.  The real world doesn&amp;#x27;t have atomic transactions, so you have to pick between that scenario and one where some people are worried about their job for a few hours.</text></item><item><author>duggable</author><text>&amp;gt; Today we will let 1,000 of our colleagues go and furlough approximately 1,100 more, while reducing hours for others. Your department leaders will be in touch this morning to discuss how this affects you individually, and letters with more details and FAQs will follow this afternoon.&lt;p&gt;Honest question - is it normal to announce layoffs publicly before telling the affected employees?  I guess I can understand it from a PR perspective, but it must be awful to read that and sit around waiting to find out if you&amp;#x27;re affected.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>CydeWeys</author><text>Usually it&amp;#x27;s more people who get laid off start talking about it on Twitter, then the news media get wind of it and start talking with the laid off employees, and find some willing to describe in detail exactly what went down, send along a screenshot of the announcement email, etc.&lt;p&gt;If I got laid off I&amp;#x27;d talk about it on Twitter too. That&amp;#x27;s a natural reaction for many people. You want to commiserate with others in the same situation and share useful unemployment and job-finding resources. Hell, a big layoff gets its own hashtag.</text></comment>