Ek said Spotify employees were doing too much "work around the work" as he laid off 17% of the group's workforce in December.

Ek said Spotify employees were doing too much “work around the work” as he laid off 17% of the group’s workforce in December.

    • tourist@lemmy.worldEnglish
      331·
      2 months ago

      surely not the workers

      all they do is sit in front of their desks for hours

    • GamingChairModel@lemmy.world
      English
      9·
      2 months ago

      There’s two parts to being successful at a job: successfully accomplishing the work that fits into your role, and successfully messaging to your bosses that you’re doing a good job.

      So when executives lay people off, it tends to catch people who are bad at that second task (the messaging/perception side), which may or may not include people who are good at the first task (actually doing good shit for the company).

      That’s why mass layoffs are damaging, and should be avoided if possible.

  • essteeyou@lemmy.worldEnglish
    542·
    2 months ago

    So he’s about to rehire all those people he laid off, right? Surely he’s not just saying this, but still expecting everyone who’s left to cover all the work he’s surprised by. Surely he knew these details before he fucked over a bunch of workers, right?

  • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
    45·
    2 months ago

    Once Spotify changed their entire UI to focus on engagement instead of a good UX, I switched to another service. I wish the best for those employees that were laid off, and the worst for a CEO driven by profit above all else

    • vortic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      2 months ago

      May I ask what service you switched to? I’m tired of my music app being cluttered with podcasts and audio books. I use other services for this things and don’t need them in Spotify.

      • kautau@lemmy.worldEnglish
        171·
        2 months ago

        I switched to tidal. Recently had a huge price drop to compete with Spotify and Apple Music. It’s not perfect, but it has lossless audio, and works well for my needs

        • VieuxQueb@lemmy.caEnglish
          5·
          2 months ago

          I started using Tidal when I learned they where the ones who pay the artists the most. I don’t know if it’s still true today tho.

      • Something Burger 🍔@jlai.luEnglish
        6·
        2 months ago

        I use Deezer. It also has podcasts but they don’t shove it up your face, in fact I just checked and I don’t even see them on the app’s home screen. I have to specifically search for them.

  • tedu@azorius.net
    27·
    2 months ago

    The full quote if you don’t want to read the article.

    Another significant challenge was the impact of December workforce reduction. Although there’s no question that it was the right strategic decision, it did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipated. It took us some time to find our footing, but more than four months into this transition, I think we’re back on track and I expect to continue improving on our execution throughout the year getting us to an even better place than we’ve ever been.

    And the full transcript of the earnings call if you want to read the whole thing.

    https://seekingalpha.com/article/4685308-spotify-technology-s-spot-q1-2024-earnings-call-transcript

    • vortic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      2 months ago

      Ah, it’s from an earnings call so it is trying to put everything in the best possible light. I wonder how much fan-splattered shit he is glossing over in that statement.

    • Obinice@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      The full quote if you don’t want to read the article.

      Or can’t afford to.

      I ain’t giving some random news website more money than I pay monthly for my Internet connection just to read some article about Spotify, they can go screw xD

    • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      It took us some time to find our footing, but more than four months into this transition, I think we’re back on track

      Did they save more money by firing those employees than they lost in the murky transition? It certainly doesn’t seem like it.

  • RubberDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
    281·
    2 months ago

    Might I suggest the Spotify employees unionize or better yet… US tech workers. That way they can make a fist and punch this guy in the proverbial dick.

    • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.spaceEnglish
      13·
      2 months ago

      They were in the process of unionising in Sweden, when the layoffs dropped. Some months later, Spotify cancelled talks about the proposed collective agreement, insisting a statement that Spotify employees don’t need unions because their working conditions are already exceedingly generous.

      (A bit of background: workplace collective agreements are commonplace in Sweden. Spotify, though, seems to have tried to import US union-busting practices, not unlike Tesla.)

  • SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zipEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    I don’t know if I could live with myself knowing how many lives I ruined, maybe that’s why the shit floats to the top. Sane people are not as accomplished because they “don’t make the tough decisions”.