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☆ CHARTS: We analyzed revenue per employee to show why Amazon, Meta, and others are axing workers with brutality and speed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

One productivity metric to watch is revenue per employee, which has fallen at some big firms. Tech companies swelled in the years up to and during the pandemic, but more manpower didn't necessarily mean more money. The chart shows Amazon, Meta, and Twitter in particular hired heavily from 2018, but also experienced declining revenue per employee. Size isn't everythingAnd how have tech companies fared against each other? The chart above shows Amazon and Salesforce are producing roughly the same revenue per employee as Twitter despite having tens of thousands more workers: each employee at Amazon generated $333,550 in revenue last year, while Salesforce employees generated $394,911.

☆ The notion of 'fake work' or coasting in the tech industry has a long history, but experts say it's just an 'excuse for bad management'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tech workers have been accused of "coasting," as well as "resting and vesting" in the past. Experts said the notion of fake work is part of a larger issue in the industry and often an excuse. People have long accused tech workers of failing to pull their weight — they've just had different names for it over the years. These claims are shedding light on larger management issues and internal problems within major tech companies, experts told Insider. And while some experts say a certain level of "fake work" is a natural part of the boom-and-bust cycle in tech, not all agree.

☆ Tech workers are taking to TikTok to debate 'fake work'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Grace Kay | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former tech staffers have taken to TikTok to discuss and debate "fake work." Earlier this month, Kendall Smith, known by her TikTok name @roilysm, shared a story from Insider about PayPal Mafia member Keith Rabois saying workers at Meta and Google were doing "fake work." Aube told Insider in a comment that he never saw anyone at the company "not doing any work or doing fake work." One TikTok creator, Arianna Tong, says she couldn't disagree more with the idea of fake work at Meta. "I've seen so many videos chiming in and saying they did fake work at Meta," @ariannatong said in a TikTok video.

☆ Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn cofounder, said he talks to his friend Peter Thiel less to avoid political discussion and feuding over Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reid Hoffman said he talks to his friend Peter Thiel less now on an episode of "On with Kara Swisher." Hoffman wants to avoid arguing with Thiel over former President Donald Trump. When Swisher asked Hoffman if Thiel hears him, Hoffman said, "I don't know." When they met as sophomores at Stanford in the mid-1990s, Hoffman heard Thiel was a "libertarian wacko," while Thiel was told Hoffman was a "pinko commie," Hoffman said on his podcast "Masters of Scale." Hoffman told Swisher he will "spend as much as I possibly can" to avoid another Trump presidency, saying it would be "destructive to our society."

☆ A popular post on Blind says all tech workers who got jobs during the pandemic were 'charity cases,' but getting hired now at a big tech company will actually mean something
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A popular post on workplace forum Blind calls tech workers hired during the pandemic "charity cases." One popular post on the anonymous workplace forum Blind takes that a step further, saying tech employees brought on during the pandemic were "charity cases." Tech companies added many new employees to their ranks during the pandemic, when business was booming for the sector. At the time time, other commenters on the popular Blind post defended employees who got tech jobs during the pandemic. "Also I refuse to believe I am some charity case, I was good enough for the company, did their process and got hired.

☆ A laid-off Meta worker says the company paid her to not work: They were 'hoarding us like Pokémon cards'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An ex-Meta worker said she was part of a group that didn't have work to do when hired. Britney Levy told Insider some people were frustrated and felt Meta was stalling their careers. In the video that has since garnered over 870,000 views, Levy said she felt Meta was hiring people so other companies couldn't have them. "They were just kind of like hoarding us like Pokémon cards," she said in the video. "People who were incredibly well qualified and had turned down amazing opportunities said they felt Meta was intentionally stalling their career.

That's the question posed by certain members of the Silicon Valley elite who are attributing layoffs to a boom-time phenomenon: over-hiring and "fake" work. A particular view of 'work'This concept of fake work is rooted, at least partly, in political disagreement. Several of the tech figures pushing these ideas lean Republican, in contrast to the left-leaning tech workers they're lambasting. He and others pushing a grind culture are motivated, as tech employees commenting on the workplace app Blind noted. "I think it's a false narrative to say many people do fake work, especially when companies already deploy workplace monitoring tools."

☆ Billionaire tech CEO says Meta and Google over-hired so much they didn't have enough work for employees: 'They really were doing nothing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Grace Kay | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

C3.ai's CEO said Google and Meta over-hired employees and didn't have enough work for them to do. Thomas Siebel joked that if you want to work remote "in your pajamas," you should work at Facebook. "If you want to work from home, like four days of work in your pajamas, go to work for Facebook." Siebel is far from the first executive to express concern that tech workers aren't doing enough work. Last year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned that remote work has spurred "productivity paranoia" among managers.

☆ Ditching autism care for software
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He raised $200 million to transform autism care. Now, he's ditching patients to sell healthcare software. Yury Yakubchyk, the cofounder and CEO of Elemy, raised more than $200 million to provide better autism therapy for kids. Instead of delivering care itself, instead of delivering care itself, the company wants to sell software to clinicians running their own businesses. It's all fake work," Rabois said.

That's the question posed by a certain members of the Silicon Valley elite who are attributing layoffs to a boom-time phenomenon: over-hiring and "fake" work. "There's nothing for these people to do — they're really — it's all fake work," he said. A particular view of 'work'This concept of fake work is rooted, at least partly, in political disagreement. Several of the tech figures pushing these ideas lean Republican, in contrast to the left-leaning tech workers they're lambasting. "I think it's a false narrative to say many people do fake work, especially when companies already deploy workplace monitoring tools."

☆ 'PayPal Mafia' member says Google and Meta intentionally overhired engineers to prevent them from working at other companies.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"PayPal Mafia" member says Google and Meta "do fake work." The companies over-hired thousands of employees to fulfill a "vanity metric," said investor Keith Rabois. He's part of the infamous PayPal cohort (pictured above — he's number nine) that went on to play influential roles at other major tech companies. Rabois estimates that Facebook parent company Meta and Google each have thousands of employees who don't do much. He even suspects that Google intentionally overhired engineers to prevent them from working at other companies.

☆ Google and Meta over-hired thousands of employees who do 'fake work,' says PayPal Mafia's Keith Rabois
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Silicon Valley VC Keith Rabois says mass layoffs are due to hiring becoming a vanity metric in tech. Rabois told an Evercore-hosted event that firms like Meta over-hired by thousands of staff. It's all fake work," Rabois said. Speaking remotely from Miami at an event hosted by banking firm Evercore, he called out major tech firms for over-hiring and said the sector's current mass shedding of jobs to rein in costs was overdue. Later on the call, he estimated that Alphabet's Google and Facebook owner Meta had thousands of employees who don't do anything.

☆ From PayPal to Facebook, Silicon Valley has long been obsessed with the idea of company "mafias." Take a look at ex-Square staffers who have created more than $40 billion of startup value.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The idea of Silicon Valley "mafias" first emerged with the Oracle, Facebook, and PayPal mafias. Former Square staffers have gone on to launch startups worth nearly $40 billion cumulatively. Silicon Valley insiders have long been obsessed with the idea of startup "mafias." The "PayPal mafia" was perhaps the most infamous company that spawned the founders of tech giants like YouTube, Yelp, Tesla, and LinkedIn. Facebook and Oracle also have their own mafias of former employees that have produced iconic tech companies like Salesforce, Asana, and GoodRx.

☆ Nearly $40 billion of startup value later, here's what the members of the Square mafia have been up to since leaving the fintech giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former Square staffers have gone on to launch startups worth nearly $40 billion cumulatively. Insider tracked 15 members of the "Square mafia" to see what they're up to these days. The "PayPal mafia" was perhaps the most infamous company that spawned the founders of tech giants like YouTube, Yelp, Tesla, and LinkedIn. Facebook and Oracle also have their own mafias of former employees that have produced iconic tech companies like Salesforce, Asana, and GoodRx. Insider tracked 15 ex-Square employees in their current ventures, ranging from launching multibillion-dollar public companies to running high-profile VC firms.

☆ I performed magic tricks for Elon Musk at a PayPal reunion party. Here's what went down.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chan performed tricks for PayPal's 20th IPO anniversary last year, with Elon Musk also attending. Two decades later, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to perform magic tricks for my old company at PayPal's 20th IPO anniversary party in August. The invitation said it would be a "tricked-out PayPal reunion party" and I was very excited in the build-up. Daniel ChanMost of the PayPal founders, known as the "PayPal Mafia," were there, including Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, David Sacks, and Max Levchin. I fooled Elon Musk.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is no longer 'in the fast lane to bankruptcy' – but still isn't 'secure'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said on Saturday that bankruptcy was no longer an imminent fear for Twitter. After sealing the $44 billion deal, Musk had planted the idea that bankruptcy could be on the cards. "We've got the [Twitter] expenses reasonably under control," Musk then said. "So the company's not, like, in the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore." In a follow-up tweet responding to a user who quoted the billionaire, Musk doubled down: "Twitter isn't secure yet, just not in the fast lane to bankruptcy.

☆ A janitor laid off at Twitter's headquarters said one of Elon Musk's team members told him he'd be replaced by robots
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A janitor told BBC that a member of Elon Musk's team said his job would eventually be replaced by robots. Four former Twitter cleaners told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Four former Twitter janitors told the publication they were laid off without severance on Monday. Multiple workers told the publication that they are concerned about how they will be able to pay bills in the coming weeks, particularly with the holidays coming up. "Overnight we don't have anything," Adrianna Villarreal, a cleaner who had worked at Twitter since 2018, told BBC.

☆ Peter Thiel thinks Elon Musk is a ‘fraud,’ and 6 other unexpected details about the billionaires' love-hate relationship
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Dorothy Cucci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Thiel and his allies conspired against Musk and replaced him as PayPal CEO while Musk was on his honeymoon. In a new biography, Max Chafkin shares surprising details about Thiel and Musk's relationship, through all of its ups and downs. Here are seven surprising details about Musk and Thiel that provide a glimpse into their long and often-fraught relationship. A source who spoke to both men said that Musk thinks Thiel is "a sociopath," and Thiel considers Musk "a fraud." Musk and Thiel, while longtime collaborators, are fundamentally opposites: Musk is considered an outgoing, eccentric risk-taker, and Thiel is known as a cautious introvert.

☆ Elon Musk's war with Apple shows just how much power Tim Cook has over how we all use the internet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk is criticizing Apple's App Store policies, and other tech CEOs have voiced support. Now, Musk is loosening Twitter's content-moderation policies and tech observers say Apple could pull it from the App Store, too. (When asked two weeks ago about the possibility of removing Twitter, Apple CEO Cook told CBS News, "They say that they are going to continue to moderate ... Failure to comply with its policies risks Twitter's removal from the App Store, which would undoubtedly harm Twitter's bottom line. Musk is now trying to put Apple in the hot seat, a seat that Tim Cook and Apple have largely tried to avoid.

☆ Meet the members of Elon Musk's inner circle said to be helping him fix Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Picked from Musk's inner circle of allies, friends, and ex-colleagues, these are the people reportedly helping him fix Twitter. Three days after Musk's acquisition, Krishnan tweeted that he was temporarily "helping out" Musk after the takeover. Sources told Insider he was listed on Twitter's company directory as a staff software engineer and was assigned a company email address. Bloomberg reported that Birchall played a key part in securing the financing for Musk's Twitter purchase. Over the past week, Musk's right-hand man has also been among the team strategizing inside Twitter, per The Washington Post.

☆ Goldman Sachs just announced its newest partner class. From trading to investment banking, here's the businesses that got the most, and least, love.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Roughly 1% of Goldman's employees reach partner status, and the perks are commensurate with the exclusivity of the title. This is the third partnership class picked under CEO David Solomon and also his largest, with 80 new partners named. Sales and trading: 27 partners (34% of total class)The takeaway: In many ways, this should come as no surprise. Investment banking: 21 partners (26% of total class)The takeaway: The second largest contingent of this class comes from investment banking, which is also somewhat expected. There's a lot to worry about in the world right now, here's one thing to put your mind at ease.

☆ Tech investor says Elon Musk's decision to 'cut deep' in Twitter layoffs could set a new standard for Silicon Valley
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tech investor David Friedberg said Twitter's layoffs could encourage other companies to follow suit. Elon Musk laid off about 50% of Twitter's staff, while other tech companies have had more conservative cuts. Tech investor David Friedberg said Musk's cost-cutting measures at Twitter could quickly become a new Silicon Valley standard as companies struggle to address the economic downturn in the months to come. Twitter staff were told to listen to the podcast episode to learn why layoffs were necessary, according to tech newsletter Platformer. However, some experts have pointed to Musk's layoffs — which were conducted via blunt emails signed by "Twitter" — as an example of what not to do.

Elon Musk seems determined to remake Twitter in his own image — with some help from the men in his trusted inner circle. They are joined in Musk’s orbit by Alex Spiro, a trial attorney with a roster of celebrity clients who reportedly led the first round of Twitter layoffs. Bloomberg reported Wednesday night that Twitter is preparing to eliminate about 3,700 jobs, or roughly half its workforce. Musk's personnel decisions suggest a possible road map for the future of Twitter, one in which policies and internal rules are drawn at least in part from the views of Musk’s consiglieres. Sacks, Calacanis, Spiro and Birchall did not immediately respond to questions about the company’s future and the nature of their roles there.

☆ Meet 38 members of the 'Shopify Mafia' who embraced the e-commerce giant's entrepreneurial spirit and launched their own companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-30 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Here are some of the most notable companies founded by former Shopify employees. Shopify also encourages employees to start their own Shopify stores. Even the company's president, Harley Finkelstein, runs his own Shopify store, Firebelly Tea, which he cofounded with the DavidsTea creator David Segal in 2021. "We have long said that Shopify is a company for entrepreneurs, built by entrepreneurs," a Shopify spokesperson told Insider. Meet some of the most notable entrepreneurs in the bunch, and learn about the startups they've worked on since leaving Shopify:

☆ LinkedIn founder and Elon Musk's longtime friend said he worried when he heard about the billionaire's decision to buy Twitter: 'It was like "Oh my god, another huge problem"'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reid Hoffman said he was initially concerned when he learned of Elon Musk's decision to buy Twitter. Other members of Musk's social circle told Axios they warned him against buying Twitter. He's already dealing with a large number,'" Hoffman told Axios in a podcast interview, referencing Musk's offer to buy Twitter on April 14. Hoffman told Axios he never doubts Musk for long — even when it came to his initial decision to purchase Twitter. Whether Musk will be forced to buy Twitter has yet to be decided.

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