[epolanski]

"I take full responsibility" is always referred to the investors and shareholders.

aka "I admit I have done a bad decision when I over hired and I'm correcting it".

It's not a "I take full responsibility" towards the employees or customers.

[bosie]

Can you even take responsibility for something if you don’t face any consequences yourself?

Like a surgeon killing a patient “taking full responsibility”…

[dtech]

Yes, that means that he takes full responsibility for a mistake, and it wasn't due to other staff, equipment, unforeseen events etc...

[alistairSH]

Responsibility without consequence is meaningless.

[charcircuit]

The parent comment just described the meaning. It's not meaningless.

[alistairSH]

So he didn’t throw a subordinate under the bus. Big whoop.

He still has a job, bonus, and golden parachute. Despite fucking up and hiring way more than needed and upending those lives.

Real responsibility would be leaving in disgrace, or returning his bonus and stock, or something else along those lines.

[Consultant32452]

"You didn't do anything wrong. It was my mistake, you shouldn't have gotten a job here in the first place."

[api]

How much were people pushed to overhire by boards and investors that are now pushing for layoffs?

Why does the financial world’s mentality have to oscillate between cocaine and opium?

[justinzollars]

There is consequence you may not consider. This company may not make it making the CEOs efforts worthless. I suspect many companies will not make it in this cycle.

[bosie]

What does this mean to him personally though? What are the consequences he faces personally? Lowered salary? Stock taken back? Fired?

[ahtihn]

You can be responsible for something even if you don't have to face any consequences.

[hsn915]

Taking responsibiliy means you have work to do to correct the problem.

You spilled coffee on the table? Clean it up. That's your responsibility. It doesn't mean you need to be "punished".

In the case of layoffs, taking responsibility might mean having to face the public and the employees with the decision and having to endure the public shaming you, etc. All on behalf of the board and shareholders.

[harha]

Right, but the letters are typically directed towards employees.

[epolanski]

Thus the hypocrisy.

They are taking the responsibility for having overhired and are acting on this responsibility by laying off.

They are not taking responsibility in front of laid off staff in any actionable way but "you can blame me rather than human resources, PMs that cried for more engineers, investors that were looking for signs of growth via head count..." which again is a sign of taking responsibility in front of shareholders, not really employees.

[agluszak]

So that's more like half of responsibility in total