kuromitsu
2009-01-09 01:22 pm UTC (link)

I wish people would come off of LJ laying people off without severance.

I mean, sure, it's a pretty shitty thing and my heart goes out to the employees who were laid off like that. But it's not like a) it's illegal (at least depending on the contract, I suppose), b) it's an uncommon practice, c) it's something most companies do simply because they're greedy bastards. (Cliché or not, there is a financial crisis going on at the moment that does affect most everything. Hell, it even affects the translation office I work for.)

...ah, sorry, I always forget we're talking about Russians who are only one step away from living in tents and eating raw horse meat.

Er, right. *cleans up*

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aeka
2009-01-09 01:29 pm UTC (link)

I would have agreed with the economic crisis being a reason, up until I read this part of their post:

The cuts were part of a restructuring that shifted global design and product development to the LiveJournal office in Moscow.......The restructuring is done with an eye to the future to ensure the long-term viability of LiveJournal as a business.

Now I'm not even sure if this is even about the economy anymore unless they're doing it on the basis that its cheaper to pay Russian designers. But the way that they wrote this post kind of rubbed me the wrong way nonetheless.

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kuromitsu
2009-01-09 02:04 pm UTC (link)

Many international companies have been trying to save money by restructuring. I know about many companies closing their Central European branches and moving to eastern areas simply because it's cheaper there. So yes, maybe it is cheaper to pay Russian designers, or maybe this way they can save money on something else. (And frankly, I believe that at this point it's none of the users' business, paying users or not.)

Of course I don't know what's really behind the restructuring either, and I agree that the post could've been worded better, but the choir of "omg how dare you lay people off without severance you dirty bastards" is incredibly annoying (to say nothing of the anti-Russian sentiments...). The only ones who have a right to bitch about that are those who have been laid off, not those who have zero insight on what's really going on in the company.

(reposted for clarification)

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	aeka 2009-01-09 02:42 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah I just read the other press release that they linked to on the page, and I honestly think they should have just reposted that since I felt it was better written than the original news post that they wrote. I do agree however on what you said about the masses being wanky about it. Now I'm wondering if this should have gone on fandom_wank or otf_wank. >.> (Reply to this)(Parent)

	inalasahl 2009-01-10 01:24 am UTC (link)
	If you get that it's a shitty thing to do then why do you think people should stop criticizing them for it? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

kuromitsu
2009-01-10 01:45 am UTC (link)

Because those who criticize them for it make it sound as if it was a) an illegal, shady action, b) something outrageous that no company has ever done before, and c) something LJ (sorry, those evil Russians) did because they're filthy bastards who get off on being asses to their employees. Now, a) and b) are not true, and while I can't speak for LJ, judging from the general economic climate it's more than possible that they simply couldn't afford to pay severances to who the knows how many people they laid off. Sure, it's a shitty situation for the former employees to be in, and if it turns out that LJ could've paid but didn't, I'll be the first who calls them dirty bastards. But how about not calling them Satan Incarnate until we know something concrete about the situation? Stuff like this happens every day (at least where I live), it's sad but it's how the world works.

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inalasahl
2009-01-13 09:27 pm UTC (link)

I very much doubt that the decision to fire the employees was made the day before it happened. It's something that's been talked about for quite awhile, I'm sure, so yes, I think, even if financially strapped they could have either given notice or a severance package, simply by firing them earlier and not having them work through the last day complete unawares.

However, criticizing that action (which is what I was asking about), is entirely different scenario than any Evil Russian-sterotypes or Satan Incarnate name-calling you might have seen.

I mean, if it's the Satan hyperbole that bothers you, you should have seen what people were flinging during strikethrough and boldthrough. That was far worse.

If it's Anti-Russian sentiment, then, yeah, those people are rascist jerks, regardless of their stance on SUP's actions, and I'm sad to hear that there are people saying such things.

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bof
2009-01-10 10:00 am UTC (link)

Yeah, it's like whenever LJ does anything, the comments go something like this:

1. LJ is an institution of evil and I look down on it.
2. Better get away before the massacre begins.
3. Those goddamn Russians and their uncivilized ways!
4. IJ sparkles like Edward Cullen.

Criticism is fine, but I'm pretty sure the reaction to something like this would have been much wilder if it hadn't been LJ.

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	sgtgeorgecarter 2009-01-09 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	I think its pretty crap to lay off people with no severance no matter who you are. It just lowers my nearly rock bottom opinion of LJ even further. As for the moving to Moscow, why do people seem surprised? Russian Company moving operations to Russia... where's the shock? (Reply to this)