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posted by hubie on Sunday January 29 2023, @05:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the your-loss-is-our-gain dept.

Due to a changing economic climate, tech companies like Google and Apple have been laying off employees to cut costs and prepare for a potential recession. Meanwhile, automakers like GM have been taking advantage of this influx of talented workers by hiring them to develop the new age of digital vehicles:

According to a report from Detroit Free Press, GM has loosened up its hiring freeze to exploit the new surplus of skilled workers. This makes sense given that The General had a goal to hire 8,000 employees last year to help it focus on the development of the technology needed for electric vehicles. In fact, GM was looking to hire a number of software developers and engineers for its new end-to-end software platform, Ultifi. As a whole, this incursion of digital-focused employees will help the Detroit-based automaker further develop its EVs and self-driving technologies, like Super Cruise and Ultra Cruise.

"While this isn't a major growth year from a hiring standpoint, we're continuing to hire tech talent," said GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal. "This includes some of the talent in the market due to the tech downsizing, particularly in areas such as EV development, software development and defined vehicle."

The auto industry is not immune to the nationwide problems of too few applicants and employees who just stop showing up. Also, I'm wondering how motivated Silicon Valley tech workers will be to move to Detroit.

Previously: Google Employees Brace for a Cost-Cutting Drive as Anxiety Mounts


Original Submission

Related Stories

Google Employees Brace for a Cost-Cutting Drive as Anxiety Mounts 3 comments

Google workers in Switzerland sent a letter this month to the company's vice president of human resources, outlining their worries that a new employee evaluation system could be used to cull the work force:

"The number and spread of reports that reached us indicates that at least some managers were aggressively pressured to apply a quota" on a process that could lead to employees getting negative ratings and potentially losing their jobs, five workers and employee representatives wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times.

The letter signaled how some Google employees are increasingly interpreting recent management decisions as warnings that the company may be angling to conduct broader layoffs. From the impending closure of a small office and the cancellation of a content-moderation project to various efforts to ease budgets during 2023 planning meetings, the Silicon Valley behemoth has become a tinderbox of anxiety, according to interviews with 14 current and former employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

[...] The worries have grown as Google's tech industry peers have handed out pink slips amid a souring global economy. Last month, Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, purged its ranks by 11,000, or about 13 percent of its work force. Amazon also began laying off about 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs, or about 3 percent of its corporate employees.

Even Google, which is on track to make tens of billions of dollars in profits this year, has had to come to terms with a slowdown. In October, as the digital advertising market slumped, Google's parent company, Alphabet, reported that profit dropped 27 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, to $13.9 billion.

Related: Amazon Will Reportedly Lay Off 10,000 Employees


Original Submission

NSA Wooing Thousands of Laid-Off Big Tech Workers for Spy Agency's Hiring Spree 12 comments

The National Security Agency is doggedly courting laid-off Big Tech workers as the spy agency undertakes one of its largest hiring surges in the last 30 years:

The NSA began privately reaching out to Big Tech employees over LinkedIn last fall, as word spread that major American companies such as Meta and Amazon were bleeding tens of thousands of skilled workers.

NSA talent management senior strategist Christine Parker said the spy agency also saw predictions of more job cuts, and sprung into action.

"NSA started reaching out through LinkedIn, through some of our career boards, specifically sending messages to people that we thought might be linked to some companies that either were in the news saying they are going to lay-off or were predicted to be laid off," Ms. Parker said in an interview. "Just kind of let them know that we're here and that we have this robust, ongoing hiring program."

[...] The NSA is currently hiring 3,000 new employees to work across the country, from the D.C.-area to Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Texas and Utah, according to Molly Moore, NSA deputy director of workforce support activities.

[...] More than half of the NSA's 3,000 open positions are for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics work. The spy agency, which is focused on signals intelligence collection, is in the market for data and computer scientists, software engineers, cybersecurity experts, human-machine teaming experts, and mathematicians, according to NSA director of operations Natalie Lang.

Related: GM Hiring Tech Talent Laid Off By Silicon Valley Companies


Original Submission

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  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by crafoo on Sunday January 29 2023, @05:37AM

    by crafoo (6639) on Sunday January 29 2023, @05:37AM (#1289160)

    Fantastic. Slackers and HR reps need somewhere to work I guess. Progressivism and it's corporate welfare program churn on.

  • (Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Sunday January 29 2023, @11:20AM (3 children)

    by sonamchauhan (6546) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 29 2023, @11:20AM (#1289171)

    Good

    Rather than spending their intellect and effort squeezing ads into eyeballs, these people can put to more productive use by 'serious'industries like farming, healthcare, biological sciences, foundries, research, vehicles

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by sweettea on Sunday January 29 2023, @04:07PM (2 children)

      by sweettea (2023) on Sunday January 29 2023, @04:07PM (#1289185)

      Advertising is the most important and serious industry. Without it, how does anyone find the product they're looking for unless they know *exactly* what it is? Advertising democratizes small industry by letting non-experts do fuzzy searches and get ads for what they are seeking.

      • (Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Sunday January 29 2023, @09:31PM

        by sonamchauhan (6546) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 29 2023, @09:31PM (#1289209)

        :) Nice one.

        Marketing people cannot help but do an excellent job marketing themselves.

      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday January 30 2023, @04:35PM

        by Freeman (732) on Monday January 30 2023, @04:35PM (#1289305) Journal

        Case in point: (Tommy Hilfiger - Gaming Keyboard + Mouse, "specifications".) https://youtu.be/5WJak0Y7X80?t=126 [youtu.be]

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 29 2023, @12:11PM (5 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 29 2023, @12:11PM (#1289174) Journal

    Soon, we'll see the Microsoft Autonomous Vehicle, courtesy of former MS workers now employed by GM.

    Get in the car, and the GM Goodwrench icon comes on screen, "Where do you want to go today?"

    No thanks, I'll walk.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 29 2023, @09:27PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 29 2023, @09:27PM (#1289207)

      > Microsoft Autonomous Vehicle

      Just for Runaway, it should be named...
      Microsoft Autonomous General Automobile

      ftfy.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by mcgrew on Monday January 30 2023, @06:30PM (1 child)

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Monday January 30 2023, @06:30PM (#1289331) Homepage Journal

      Hey, you got a new car! Pretty nice! I see you're sticking with the same manufacturer.

      Well, I liked the old one. I've always been happy with Microcar's autos.

      Your old one was only two years old, if you liked it why did you buy a new one?

      The manufacturer said I should upgrade. Besides, this new model has a cassette instead of an eight track. Wish it would play the other four tracks though...

      Why didn't you just buy a new radio?

      The manufacturer welds them in, and wires them so the car won't start if you take it out. Besides, the radio wasn't the only reason to upgrade.

      What else?

      Ralph Nader says the old one crashes too often, but you know that nut. I've only had that old one one crash six times, and I was never in the hospital too long. But Microcar says this model is much more stable and hardly ever crashes. It's supposed to be more secure, too.

      Why did it keep crashing?

      Dunno, something about the spark plugs interacting with the steering system, I'm no mechanic. My mechanic tried to explain it to me but these mechanical things are just too complicated. He says if I'd defrag my pistons more often it wouldn't crash, you get much more stability with a fresh tuneup. But I just said the hell with it and traded it in.

      In fact, I'm taking it in to the shop right now.

      But it's a band new car, it needs a tuneup?

      No, there's a feature that keeps the door lock from working if you drive it more than six miles. I'm going to get the patch kit.

      I thought you weren't mechanical?

      Well, they say this one's an easy fix and I can't afford another repair bill.

      Won't they fix it under warrantee?

      What warrantee? This is a car! The EULA says they bear no responsibility for anything. I just hope I don't get in trouble with the law applying this patch.

      Huh?

      Yeah, they weld the hood shut, and under the DMCA, opening the hood of your car is a felony if it's welded shut. You can go to prison if you get caught, even if they are tacky little welds that come apart by themselves.

      Boy, cars sure are weird. I'm glad my computer isn't like that, I'd never get any work done!

      1/25/2002

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 30 2023, @07:33PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 30 2023, @07:33PM (#1289355) Journal

      Get in the car, and the GM Goodwrench icon comes on screen, "Where do you want to go today?"

      If it's not the Clippy icon, then I'd rather walk.

      "It looks like you're trying to get somewhere. Let me see if I can help you with that. I am completely lost. Turn left in 600 feet. Please ignore any signs that warn that the bridge is out."

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 31 2023, @01:49AM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 31 2023, @01:49AM (#1289411) Journal

        Well, it's Clippy with a makeover. He more resembles a clevis pin now. Not that the average motorist knows what a clevis pin is . . .

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 29 2023, @11:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 29 2023, @11:45PM (#1289218)

    Perhaps the VCs who control GM are saying to hire the people who the VCs who control Google and others were told to fire [theregister.com] (despite earning huge profits). Any why are they all doing it? The "economy"? Bullshit, they're doing it because others are doing it [livemint.com] and they're afraid there will be a redundancy gap ("oh, if Meta is doing it, we better do it too or our investors will get mad").

    Why do the C-suite and boards make so much money when the VCs are telling them what to do and they don't have the spine to say "no"?

  • (Score: 2) by Username on Monday January 30 2023, @02:52AM

    by Username (4557) on Monday January 30 2023, @02:52AM (#1289232)

    Not sure I'd want twitter or facebook employees controlling my car too. Last thing I need is a "car ban" when trying to get to work. They might work 4 hours a month and not understand that others don't have that luxury.

    If I ever get an electric car (doubtful), first thing I'd do is remove the call home or remote control "features." Hopefully some russian cracked the OS and I can just flash a new rom onto it. Sad day when you have to jailbreak your car.

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