When mass layoffs happen, do you think PMs should be the first ones to be let go?

Question

Howdy 🤠,
Usually HR is the one that gets the boot first because hiring is reduced or frozen all together. Then Marketing and Sales, because the market is buying less and the cost of customer acquisition is not worth the headcount.
Assuming all non tech layoffs are already done, and now the question is about the more technical teams -- PM's, eng, design, analysts, data science. Which one do you think will be on top of the list ?

Accepted Answer

When a company is faced with the difficult decision of having to implement mass layoffs, it's important to make those decisions based on a range of factors. While the financial health of the company is often a key consideration, it's also important to evaluate the contributions and value of individual employees.

Product managers (PMs) play a critical role in a company's product development and strategy, and their expertise and skills are often essential to the success of the company's products. While it's possible that some PMs may be more expendable than others, it's not fair or reasonable to assume that they should automatically be the first to be let go.

Instead, companies should strive to make thoughtful and strategic decisions about layoffs, taking into account the broader context of the business and the skills and contributions of individual employees. This may involve prioritizing certain roles or functions over others, but it should be done in a fair and objective manner, based on a comprehensive assessment of the situation and the needs of the business.

Ultimately, the decision to lay off employees is a difficult and emotional one, and it's important for companies to approach it with sensitivity and empathy for those affected. Companies should provide support and resources for employees who are impacted by layoffs, and work to maintain a positive and supportive workplace culture even in challenging times.

Zain Sheikh · Answer

PMs contain the domain knowledge of your business. A developer without direction is no developer. I think its better to reduce opex and stop capex to 0. If still require layoffs, C-level management should be affected first. It should be top down approach.

Hyunseok Lee · Answer

When massive layoff happened(unfortunatly), Most of reason is to make cash flow better.
So, reduce fixed cost will be major consieration. It means, reduce R&D cost, delay develop new feature (or product), endure situation should be followed.
In this situation. i thought developer should be the firest ones to be let go. except only people who can maintenance.

Mohcine Heddi · Answer

@hyunseok_lee how useful do you think a PM is for a tech company if there are no developers ?

David Cagigas · Answer

Interesting discussion!

When mass layoffs happen, do you think PMs should be the first ones to be let go?

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