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by ilyt 1189 days ago
Or, the investors want their returns. If you don't understand how perfectly healthy business can be gutted just because investors want better number on next year's sheets and don't care about long term then don't post.
4 comments

I just want to say, investors getting returns should be a goal of every for profit company (whos taken investor $$). Thats why investors risk their capital. That capital is responsible for the growth of most major tech companies. Its responsible for most jobs at tech companies.

Not saying this is an excuse to treat employees poorly. They're just as vital as the capital (employee hours is often quite literally whats bought with the capital). But I get tired of hearing only poo poo being thrown on investors.

Having money should not be worth more than doing the work. Same goes for landlords.
Then don't take the money. You don't need seed money to make a business. You can just spend all your time instead.

You might get to the point where you'll value that money more. Or not.

Are you positing that companies should never go public?

Or even if public, that there is no physical limit we can impose on growth expectations?

They are the same thing! Money is just a store of work. All money was earned via work. Investors give that stored work to companies. They’re essentially energy credits
> Money is just a store of work

So, when you print more of it, whose work is being encapsulated into it?

And how do you explain profit margins? You are aware that things aren’t priced at just the cost of work, right?

Except for this whole thing called “risk” that investors and landlords undertake as part of the process.
And that’s exactly the problem - risk does not confer inherent value. The employees are also taking on significant risk - clearly, if things go even slightly south for investors, they fire the employees first!
If you look around most companies especially with the way hiring has been the last few years, layoffs != gutting.
The investors that made the business want to cash out? How dare they!
But we are in fact in the early stages of a slow train-wreck of a global economic meltdown.

Investors wanting value out of stock is one thing, especially if the stock has a dividend. But this is not a dividend stock, so that tired trope doesn't apply. Also, this is Amazon, famous for channelling revenue back into the business, effectively making the stock neutral value in a fiat sense. It would be one thing if it were any other company, but it's Amazon. The only value in the stock is the perceived value of the stock holders, and Amazon doesn't play that value-game like other corporations.

Considering they previously cut 19K jobs, and this is just a piece of the additional 9K job cuts across all business units... it strongly indicates Amazon is preparing for an even worse economy to come. Consider the Biden Administration printed about ~$10 trillion USD since 2020, and if Inflation were comparable to Dune sand-worms, this would be the Shai Hulud of Inflation. It takes a while for the economy to realise everyone is being payed less, and prices need to rise in accordance with increasing costs, but oh wait... people are still paid the old income they always earned, and so they buy less stuff, and around and round the cycle goes.

Amazon isn't selling as much as they used to, so please with all due respect... get the fuck out of here with the ShArE hOlDeRs WaNt VaLuE nonesense. A bunch of corporations are cutting jobs, because payroll is typically the #1 cost of doing business, for any business.