AT&T Layoffs

I hate AT&T, just as I hate Comcast. 

But I hate the company, not the people (at least non-executives) who work there.  So I'm sad to hear AT&T is joining the layoff bandwagon, letting go off 4% of their workforce, or 12,000 people.

There are two factors that are leading to this:

Firstly, they are seeing their landline customers defect - that business is shrinking by 11%, while AT&T's own wireless business is growing by 14%.   Their landline business is still bigger, and needs a bigger workforce compared to the wireless business, so that feeds directly into the total workforce.

Secondly, they are seeing people stop taking add-on services, and manage their minutes on limited plans more carefully (AT&T is one of the worst companies at charging through the roof for a single extra text message, or a single extra minute on your calling plan). 

Sweet Chin Music - Pandora Laying off 15% of Staff

Time once again for sweet chin music at Pandora, but hopefully this stops the fat lady from singing too soon.  My favorite online music site has been through the tough times of the dot com bust, and most recently the tyranny of those damn record companies.  So I am confident they will come out successfully on the other side. 

But for now, Tim Westergren, Joe Kennedy and team are letting go off 20 of their 140 staff members. 

Pandora does have a load of analysts, well versed in music, some extensively and classically trained, who analyze songs and classify them by very detailed multiple descriptive categories.  My guess is the majority of layoffs will affect these folks.   I do have to admit, my Pandora radio stations don't play too many new songs. 

Their sales staff is also supposed to be doing well, and I do see a lot of ads now.  Thats good - keep bringing in the revenues, guys!

Bringing Down the House - Zillow Layoffs

Turns out Zillow isn't just reporting a lower value for my house (each time I check, damn it!).  Almost 40 of Zillow's 150 employees are being laid off. 

This is another Seattle based real-estate startup going through some economy-related pains.   As usual, CEO Rich Barton's layoff memo talks about how business is great... but layoffs are needed.

As I keep saying, I think this is good for Zillow.  Bad for the employees, but good for Zillow, and of course those same employees' stock options, in the long term.  (one hopes, anyway - none of the startups I worked at during the dot com bust managed to give me a single dollar back on my stock options).

Signs of a Downturn - Gawker Media, Valleywag

In yet another sign of the times, Nick Denton of Gawker Media is cutting 19 of 133 editorial jobs.  The worst hit is Valleywag, one of my daily sources of information.  The 'wag will be losing associate editors Nicholas Carlson and Jackson West and reporter Melissa Gira Grant, which leaves only a couple of guys to run the ship.

Does this make sense?  My thoughts - yes, it definitely does.  Couple this with Denton's other move - to stop bonuses, but increase everyone's base salaries - and you realize that he might be an early mover, but one who is moving in the right direction.

Consumer spending will be down in the first half of next year - all indications are leading to this.  Ad budgets, specially for less mainstream media forms and outlets, will be slashed.  As such, positioning your company for such an outcome in advance is the right move.

Personally, I've been on the receiving end at Onetta, after 9/11.  But thanks to their strategy of cutting workforce early, Onetta stayed in business longer than most other dot com companies during the 2000 - 2003 time (yes, it did finally go down, as a disadvantageous sale to Bookham, but the fact remains that people did have jobs longer, and some people did get some level of bonuses).

Hope the laid-off folks find better opportunities very soon.