We've learned it because we've seen this movie many times over the past couple of years (the catalyst perhaps being Musk's decimation of Twitter): it's become acceptable -- and perhaps not only acceptable but expected -- to suddenly cut a significant percentage of your workforce in order to "drive growth", with some BS platitude (the details of which vary a bit but they all read pretty much the same).
It's not venom, it's an appropriate response by workers to the "shareholder-value-at-all-cost" race that the industry finds itself in; an industry that has prided itself, and often built companies on, values that are the opposite.
That, and the fact that CEOs have no accountability for these decisions.
I saw the venom the other way. People are losing their livlihoods and I see such dismissals as
- "You shoud have saved more money"
- "oh well you'll get a better job soon" (have not seen the job market the last 2 years)
- "They were probably low performing workers anyway, they deserve it"
- "It is what it is. Business is going to business"
- "The CEO's are just doing their job"
I hate it. We can't even come together as a community, which consists of many tech workers, to empathize with our peers. No wonder we can't rise up and bring about change from grassroots.
It's not venom, it's an appropriate response by workers to the "shareholder-value-at-all-cost" race that the industry finds itself in; an industry that has prided itself, and often built companies on, values that are the opposite.
That, and the fact that CEOs have no accountability for these decisions.