This article just came out today about Buffer’s decision to lay folks off. I can relate to a lot of feelings Joel expressed in the post. My support and prayers go out to the Buffer team, especially to the folks who lost their job. That’s 10 people who’s lives just got negatively impacted, and change forever. I’m sure the management team, at Buffer, took a lot of that into consideration.
I have great respect for Buffer’s belief in transparency. I think their level of transparency has helped grown a techie fan base. I have a lot of co-workers who are huge fans of Buffer, for that reason.
I’ve been laid off one time. I was working in a industry I thought I wanted to work in, which was the Video Game industry. I was doing customer support for a popular multiplayer online game…well..popular at the time. There was a reason why we had layoffs, tee hee.
When I was laid off, I was devastated. I felt devalued, lost all confidence, and thought my life was over. Thankfully it was an event that changed me forever, and turned me into someone who became more career driven.
One of the men who ran the company that laid me off, once referred to me (and my team) as a monkey. He said “Well…a monkey can do your job! Isn’t that right, monkey?” It’s pretty stunning that this man is referred to as a “darling” in the Austin TX tech community.
Anyway, the point is…..I deeply appreciate the folks at Buffer. They went a long way to explain their side of things, and that’s pretty fantastic. It shows that they care. It is much better than what many of us get to experience from unethical business owners.