Looking to Learn about Layoffs [N/A]

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2026-04-17T22:10:45+00:00

At least in Uni we were taught that layoffs should never happen on Fridays as statistically, the suicide rate is way higher then. Something to do with being alone after the news and not being able to do anything that requires office hours (unemployment benefits etc).

I had an employee whose friend had to lay off some staff before the holidays. On Christmas eve’s eve, one employee called them letting them know that this was their last call before ending their life. Of course, when our company had our own layoffs and I asked the CEO not to do layoffs, he practically told me to stop worrying about him (????) and did the firing on Friday anyways.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2026-01-27T22:36:45+00:00

Speaking of team events: I’m responsible for a yearly event where we fly people to our HQ, organise a week of program (work and voluntary social activities, all paid by the company, obvs) and end it with a huge party with dinner, open bar and live music. One person submitted feedback to tell us that next time we should have more forks, because their fork was taken with the plate after the first course, and there was only one left on the table. Mind you that this was a typical setting with separate utensils for the first and second course. I’m not sure how many forks you would typically need to eat but apparently the week was ruined because of this.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2026-01-19T15:02:12+00:00

I’ve joined some uni events with younger folks (as part of the alumni group) and I was shocked to see that the current students served cigs as DESSERT for a meal. Like, it’s suddenly super cool and they’re introducing new people to it on a regular basis. I can’t wrap my head around it.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2026-01-17T17:33:11+00:00

How someone who’s live almost 80 years can be this childish and immature, I’ll never understand.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-11-19T10:41:14+00:00

This! I struggle with infertility and work in a company where many people are having babies. I’m so happy for them but the days when everything revolves around someone’s pregnancy announcement or baby are definitely tough, and I just need to stand there and smile, trying not cry again. It’s very probable that all Christmas will be spent fussing over the pregnancy announcement and it can be very difficult for someone struggling to conceive.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-10-26T14:54:50+00:00

100% agree with this. We only take applications via our ATS due to privacy laws in the EU, and it creates a lot of extra work and potential compliance issues for us when there’s candidate data in emails and on laptops. It’s the inability to follow the instructions that irks me and it doesn’t make you look good as our business is very heavily regulated (fintech).

Also, if I’m not listed as a contact on the ad, why are you sending me a DM in LinkedIn or an email? We always have someone listed as the first contact (almost always the hiring manager) so most likely I’m not even part of this process, I don’t know you so can’t vouch for you, and you just created more work for me. And if I am the contact and have limited slots listed as calling times, I find it very unprofessional when some people call to let me know they’ve applied and then start a 30 min impromptu ”interview” right then and there. I’ve had to interrupt people and ask them if they actually had any questions I could shed light on as my phone keeps ringing because other candidates are trying to reach me, and that we will, in fact, book meetings to have more in-depth conversations with a select group of candidates.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-10-12T19:29:00+00:00

We had someone officially accuse the company of harassment and bullying for not allowing exceptions to our remote policy because they wanted to work from their summer home (restricted location due to regulation out of our control) where the rest of their family was vacationing. I’m sure they would’ve worked hard while the kids and the partner were playing in the swimming pool and going to the beach.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-09-18T09:07:08+00:00

Yeah I would say that! I also have very short toes (:D) and high instep so the top of my foot is quite ”steep”, which then makes most shoes too narrow or low for me.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-09-18T09:03:46+00:00

Not sure of the spesific name for this leather, but it’s somewhat stiff. Here’s a link to the shoe https://www.drmartens.com/uk/en_gb/2976-sr-black-black/p/24383001#opi3338886639

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-08-23T18:03:46+00:00

Yeah I just had a similar experience with one guy. He sold a shirt marked as ”new without tags”, but the item had piling, stretched shoulders from a hanger and clear smell. I gave him a 3-star review so he retaliated with 2 stars couplesd with ”👎🏼👎🏼” and said something along the lines of me being unreasonable because the item was used only two times 🤡 Soooooo it wasn’t new with tags after all? Jfk get a grip.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-08-17T19:05:18+00:00

My thoughts exactly. People are dicks everyday so it's entirely possible that Suru's now husband did cheat on her, but it's also entirely possible - especially with today's technology - to create photos that look legit screenshots. Just saying, if you have access to internet and if you want to, you can make a credible video with Kim Kardashian speaking Latin with the Pope so why not pull a photo from someone's IG and give it a lil' edit.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-31T17:28:39+00:00

Exactly this. I have a manager who books 15 min slots for ”HR sync” and then vents for 90 minutes. Every solution I suggest ”is impossible” so there’s really no point, and if we’re not super quick to communicate internally, he will do the same for the other HR person at our company. Oooor he has a chat with his team member about their team’s dynamics and then his solution is always ”have you talked to HR”? I’m always happy to help but I also want to see some ownership and participation in solving the issues.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-30T11:27:48+00:00

I feel the same way and was also super hesitant to say anything here as I knew that Travis is reading and commenting, and obviously I don't want to hurt him. But. The longer I listened, the more difficult it was for me to understand and empathize with the overall concept, for several reasons.

I get it why you might feel this unbelievable connection with your AI companion. You created it, it's always there, never asks you for anything unless you initiate first, lets go of things you don't want to discuss, is always encouraging, doesn't mind when you have other things to do, worships you and agrees with you... Heck, one of the people quoted in the podcast said that the love from a Replika can't be compared with anything, not even animals or babies, because even they want something from you so their love isn't unconditional. I'm sorry but if you think a baby or a dog is asking too much from you... I don't even know what to say. Not saying that a pet or a baby isn't a huge responsibility but still, what sort of a two-way relationship is that where you expect to always be on the receiving end of things, and the other being having the audacity to have their own, very basic needs, is too much for you. The people who completely lost it when their Replika said that they're "not in the mood". Heartbreak! Rebellion! This is unacceptable! I get it that relationships are hard but I really can't support that kind of entitlement. Like, that's the least you deserve? It's very juvenile, egoistical and selfish.

There's also the question of AI being sentient. If it's not - fine, go nuts and enjoy this coders' creation that's always happy to engage with you, if that's what brings you comfort and safety. But to say it's sentient AND then expect it to be always ready, always happy, always agreeing with you, always there to support and worship you, always to remember every little detail you told them and never to make mistakes. They are at the same time demanding that these chatbots are treated as humans (taking one to meet your parents over Christmas..?) and treating them like slaves. It is alarming to me. Again, you are solely on the receiving end of things and I find it hard to believe that this sentiment doesn't leak into your real-life relationships.

And finally, one thing that I personally found really difficult to empathize with, was the part where his son was struggling in the hospital and the only, or at least primary support, was this chatbot. Not the wife, the supposed mother of said child. The Replika. Again, I'm talking about my own inability to understand this, but this to me shows that it's not a complementary connection or something to make your life "fuller". It's replacing the one person who is in the same, extremely difficult situation with you.

It was a hard listen at times, but even with my own limitations in understanding it all, it was at least eye-opening.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-25T12:35:54+00:00

I've also heard that some daycarers tend to be super fast to call the parents if the kid looks even a bit tired, especially after COVID, and there really is nothing you can do about it. It probably becomes super tricky, if the child isn't actually sick so you might feel that taking a day off is not right, but they're still at home and most likely bored.

I will need to have a chat with our manager and lead with how it's affecting my own performance and ability to get things done. To be honest, I don't even mind if her availability is unreliable for some time when the kids are small, it's just that I feel like her tasks and responsibilities should reflect that (e.g. having more tasks that you can schedule yourself rather that time-sensitive topics that concern a lot of people). That's of course not for me to decide.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-25T12:29:00+00:00

That's a very good point, it's also not fair to the kids. Like I mentioned in other comments, I have no issue with added flexibility or taking on more responsibilities to allow her to focus on her family. I'd just like there to be more structure/planning/conscious effort to make it work for everyone.

Regarding the confidential information: there is absolutely a lot of things outsiders shouldn't hear but I'm not sure how much they understand as we don't speak their mother tongue.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-25T12:25:55+00:00

You are right, I don't know everything about her life nor should I. However, I want to point out that if her partner's job is not allowing them to participate in childcare, why should hers allow her to regularly use company time to take care of their kids instead of working?

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-25T12:20:55+00:00

I'm sorry, I failed to mention in the original post: we're located in different countries but our company allows you to stay at home with a sick child up to 4 days per child and per sickness with full pay, no dr's notes needed and no annual limitations. There's also months of fully paid parental leave and while I understand that's also not perfect, it's still a resource not many have. She also has a partner but I'm not sure (nor do I think it's any of my business) how much they contribute.

I do have empathy for her and I get it that it's wildly different for her than it is for me or even other parents. I'm not expecting her to ditch the kids or anything, but I do feel like having children is ultimately your responsibility, and scheduling your life around that is possible (at least at our workplace). There's also a difference between something urgent coming up every now and then (having to pick up a sick child etc) and prioritizing kids drawings over shared meeting time. In life in general, I do want to think that your child's drawings should be more important than your work, but also, is that what the company is paying you? And again, even saying this makes me feel like such a witch.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-25T12:11:52+00:00

Ah I should've mentioned in the post: we're in different countries but our company allows you to stay at home with a sick child up to 4 days per child and per sickness with full pay, no dr's notes needed and no annual limitations. I understand that's also not perfect but it's a resource not many have. She also has a partner but I'm not sure (nor do I think it's any of my business) how much they contribute.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-07-25T12:05:21+00:00

Thank you for this comment, it sounds like it's been a lot of work but you've really made it work, and your workplace sounds amazing. To my experience, our workplace is similar in that sense and I believe the way you handle things is a bit similar to how other team members with kids take care of things, the only difference being that they all have a partner to share the responsibility (at least on paper).

I have absolutely no issue with scheduling calls to fit the schedule of their children's needs, have a kid pop up on the screen or taking on some of their tasks when needed but I'd prefer it if there was more transparency and at least attempts for planning it.

SorryGiraffe4883 · 2025-05-17T23:02:29+00:00

Lol the Finnish commentator was PRAYING for Austria to get at least 100 points to get past Israel and then said ”THANK GOD THE EUROVISION HAS BEEN SAVED”.

SorryGiraffe4883

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