Why “layoff” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
I’m thinking about it, but I’m pretty sure the trust and safety org was far less than 75% of their employees. The low level human moderator work was almost all outside contracto…
by sgerenser · Oct 27, 2026
The first layoff or in this case the first buyout is probably the most generous one.
by ergocoder · Oct 26, 2026
Sometimes--very rarely--one's ethics may dictate not taking it, as with the "fork" email to U.S. Federal Government employees. Or when an early-stage company layoff is being don…
by zbentley · Oct 26, 2026
I believe this number is FTE's and not contractors. That's a whole different story, and I don't think those numbers are public. After a layoff at big tech, you see an influx of…
by RajT88 · Oct 26, 2026
The worst case scenario is not taking the offer then getting let go for performance, which means zero severance, health insurance terminated same day. That's generally not legal…
by gamblor956 · Oct 26, 2026
I'm a Microsoft employee who historically would have probably taken this offer. For now I agree with your take: why bother taking this when I can just instead take the inevitabl…
by Jagerbizzle · Oct 26, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "layoff" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "layoff" over time.
A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization. Originally, layoff referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, or employment but this has evolved to a permanent elimination of a position in both British and US English, requiring the addition of "temporary" to specify the original meaning of the word. A layoff is not to be confused with wrongful termination. Read more on Wikipedia