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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Bed Bath &amp; Beyond's owner said in a regulatory filing that it will cut one-fifth of its workforce.</li><li>Beyond, Inc., formerly known as Overstock, bought the BB&amp;B brand after the original went bankrupt.</li></ul>The parent company of Bed Bath &amp; Beyond plans to lay off one-fifth of its workforce in a move to save $20 million per year.Beyond, Inc., formerly known as Overstock, said in a regulatory <a target="_blank" href="https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001130713/624d4cec-8178-41f0-9abe-6c7180fd1564.pdf">filing</a> on Tueday that the cuts will "align to its asset-light business that supports an affinity and data monetization model."The move follows a September <a target="_blank" href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/beyond-to-sell-utah-headquarters-for-55-million-ac952435">announcement</a> that the company reached a deal to sell its Utah headquarters. The two measures are expected to reduce the annual budget by $65 million, said CFO Adrianne Lee."As we continue to transform and build out our model, we intend to monetize data through our enhanced CRM and database capabilities, stand up a global loyalty program across both our owned and partnered brands, and leverage our IP through a variety of global licensing partnerships," company president Dave Nielsen said in a statement Thursday.Earlier in the week, Beyond and Kirkland's Home <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://investors.beyond.com/news-events/press-releases/news-details/2024/Kirklands-Home-and-Beyond-Inc.-to-Revitalize-Bed-Bath--Beyond-Brand-with-Neighborhood-Store-Strategy-Through-New-Strategic-Partnership/default.aspx">announced</a> a $25 million deal to open small-format, 15,000 square-foot "neighborhood" Bed Bath &amp; Beyond locations across the US. The new concept will include a curated assortment of classic BB&amp;B products, the companies said.Overstock bought the BB&amp;B intellectual property last year after the original housewares retailer went bankrupt, turning the former big box brand into an online-only operation.The $21.5 million deal covered trademarks, internal business data, and e-commerce platforms, including websites and mobile apps, but no physical stores or inventory.The company said at the time that the additional Bed Bath &amp; Beyond loyalty program shoppers tripled Overstock's existing customer base.Since renaming itself to Beyond, Inc., the company has managed to grow customers by 21%, but sales have suffered, with delivered orders declining by 19%, according to its third-quarter results <a target="_blank" href="https://investors.beyond.com/news-events/press-releases/news-details/2024/Beyond-Inc.-Reports-Third-Quarter-2024-Financial-Results/default.aspx">released</a> on Thursday.If you are a Beyond worker who wants to share your perspective, please <a target="_blank" href="mailto:dreuter@businessinsider.com">contact Dominick via email</a> or text/call/Signal at 646.768.4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a non-work device when reaching out

Bed Bath & Beyond owner to lay off 20% of its workforce

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="20781003" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Klarna" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Klarna" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Klarna">Klarna</keyword> CEO <keyword id="23150803" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sebastian-Siemiatkowski" source="keywords">Sebastian Siemiatkowski</keyword> said that he plans to reduce the company's workforce by half.</li><li>He said the company can "do much more with less" through <keyword id="19904566" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence" source="keywords">artificial intelligence</keyword>.</li></ul>Klarna plans to employ half the people it did last year, betting on artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency and cut costs. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in a statement to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bfd9af3d-d607-4877-9571-078ab82a837e" target="_blank">Financial Times</a> that the company could operate effectively with half its current staff, which numbered about 4,000 at the end of June. Siemiatkowski s<keyword id="19899640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI" source="keywords">ai</keyword>d the company can "do much more with less" using AI. The Swedish <keyword id="20050492" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="buy-now-pay-later" source="keywords">buy-now-pay-later</keyword> company lost about 24% of its staff in the last year, per its annual report. Spokesman Joel Hedin told Business Insider those losses were "natural attrition" and that with the company's hiring freeze, "headcount is gradually decreasing." Last year, Klarna halted hiring for most positions outside its engineering team as it increasingly relied on AI technology to fill gaps left by departing staff. He added that the marketing team had been more productive, working with half its size compared to the previous year. Last year, Klarna <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/klarna-ai-chatbot-work-700-people-2024-2">halted</a> hiring for most positions outside its engineering team as it increasingly relied on AI technology to fill gaps left by departing staff. In a February blog <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.klarna.com/international/press/klarna-ai-assistant-handles-two-thirds-of-customer-service-chats-in-its-first-month/">post</a>, the company claimed its AI assistant could handle the workload of 700 full-time employees. Klarna said that the chatbot outperformed human agents in "errand resolution" accuracy and matched human employees in customer satisfaction levels. Klarna also projected that this technology could boost the company's profits by $40 million this year. Meanwhile, Klarna competitor Affirm is also doubling down on AI chatbots — but isn't publicly seeking to cut its staff. "No one has yet to lose their job to be replaced by robot at Affirm, so that's not a short-term cost saving," CEO Max Levchin said on a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-prefers-ai-chatbots-phone-calls-affirm-ceo-bnpl-2024-5">May earnings call</a>, adding that AI could save the company money over the next one to three years. <h2>AI shakes up tech staff</h2>Other tech companies are axing staff as they transition to AI-centric businesses. Earlier this month, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-layoffs-ai-strategy-workers-more-effective-jobs-fulfilling-2024-8">Dell</a> announced the significant restructuring of its sales division, resulting in mass layoffs. Tech companies, including Google and Apple, have laid off over 350,000 workers since the beginning of 2023, according to data from online tracker <a target="_blank" href="http://Layoffs.fyi">Layoffs.fyi</a>. While many of these layoffs were attributed to overhiring during the pandemic, the need to reallocate capital for AI investments is also a significant factor for the layoffs. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-job-losses-spending-new-tech-meta-google-amazon-layoffs-2024-7">said</a> in a February earnings call that layoffs were necessary to invest in "long-term, ambitious visions around AI." Google CEO Sundar Pichai also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-says-more-layoffs-to-come-2024-1">wrote</a> in a January memo that job cuts were needed to "create the capacity for investment" in AI. Klarna had credited an improvement in its <keyword id="20088085" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-performance" source="keywords">financial performance</keyword> to AI, with net losses declining from 854 million Swedish Krona, around $84 million, during the second quarter of 2023, to 10 million Krona, around $900,000, in the most recent quarter. The company also reported a 27% increase in revenue and a 73% increase in revenue per employee over 12 months. Klarna is gearing up for an <keyword id="19913114" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="initial-public-offering" source="keywords">initial public offering</keyword> as early as next year, although Siemiatkowski told the FT that the company has not made any IPO decisions yet. Klarna did not respond to a request for comment by BI sent outside standard business hours. Correction: August 28, 2024 — This story has been updated with a more exact headcount change and to specify why Klarna lost staff in the last year. After publication, a Klarna representative told Business Insider that the loss — about 24% of staff — came from natural attrition.

Klarna only needs half its staff, because AI lets the buy-now-pay-later company 'do much more with less'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Recessions are notoriously difficult to predict.</li><li>But unemployment rates and inverted yield curves aren't the only way to watch for a recession.</li></ul>Financial hand-ringing abounds these days as money managers and consumers alike eye <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/are-we-in-a-recession">a potential recession.</a>But recessions are notoriously <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/economy/articles/economic-insights/2019/q1/eiq119-predicting-recessions.pdf">difficult for economists to predict</a>.Official recession indicators are mounting. Two recession indicators — the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-indicator-economy-inverted-yield-curve-campbell-harvey-fed-unemployment-2024-6">inverted yield curve</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sahm-rule-recession-outlook-indicator-triggered-unemployment-rate-jobs-report-2024-8">the SAHM Rule</a> — are flashing red. But earlier this year, financial bigwigs admitted that they got their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jamie-dimon-ray-dalio-us-economy-recession-predictions-wrong-wsj-2024-3">previous predictions wrong</a> — for now.But for the less market-inclined money watcher, there are several simpler, stranger signs that could also point to a coming downturn.Business Insider spoke to financial experts about the weird — and often imperfect — recession indicators they keep an eye out for in times of trouble."Few if any of these informal indicators are conclusive on their own, and some may simply signal changes in consumption patterns," said Peter C. Earle, senior economist at the American Institute for Economic Research. "The confluence of many at once, however, can be indicative of a souring macroeconomic trend."<h2 id="388d0245-492c-45e1-a60d-546f9ed4cb93">Lipstick sales</h2><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lipstick-index-explained-how-makeup-sales-could-forecast-recession-2022-8#:~:text=Back%20in%202001%2C%20when%20the,worse%2C%20lipstick%20sales%20got%20better.">The Lipstick Effect</a> is one of the more well-known wacky recession indicators. The rule equates an increase in lipstick sales to a downturn in people's purchasing power, a sign that often points to a recession ahead, Aaliyah Kissick, CEO of Financial Literacy Diaries and a Gen Z money expert, told BI.Lipstick most often stands in as the titular item in the economic theory, but the rule effectively operates as an example of the substitution effect, positing that as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-us-economy-consumer-spending-hard-landing-inflation-slowdown-2024-6">people lose the ability to buy</a> themselves big-ticket luxury items during difficult financial times, they turn toward smaller, more affordable luxury because it represents a "small win," Kissick said.Along with an uptick in lipstick sales, a sales increase in similarly small items like nail polish could also point to financial troubles, Joe Camberato, CEO of NationalBusinessCapital.com, told BI.The theory has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-shoppers-still-spending-big-as-us-consumers-cut-elsewhere-2023-3">played out</a> several times throughout history, including ahead of the 2008 recession.<h2 id="9b3867ce-4d1e-4e2b-8fdd-cc1f5c08a572">Strippers' tips</h2>Exotic dancers are often among the first group of people to warn of a coming recession, Kissick said, lending credence to another predictive theory: <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://theface.com/society/strippers-recession-stripping-adult-industry-porn-politics-economy">The Stripper Index.</a>Kissick pointed to strippers' tips as a microcosm for elastic goods. The elasticity of a product refers to how changing prices may or may not trigger changing demand.Coffee, for example, is an inelastic good. Even as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coffee-prices-increases-inflation-drought-frost-2022-8">prices rise</a>, people continue to buy it because they just aren't willing to go without it. The fact that caffeine is an addictive substance means people won't change their demand for coffee even in tough economic times.But where a typical white-collar worker isn't willing to forgo coffee during a recession, he may be more likely to ditch the after-hours entertainment, or he'll tip his performers less, Kissick said.The theory can more broadly be applied to any service industry that operates with a tipping culture, Earle said."As a lot of people in the food service industry have noticed lately, a decrease in restaurant tipping suggests that consumers are reducing discretionary spending — whether because of rising unemployment, the debilitating effect of inflation, or both," he added.<div type="image" title="A stripper pole with a crumpled-up dollar bill as a tip." height="1272" width="2357" msid="112994375" hostid="261" sizebytes="67034"></div><h2 id="04bc0b6c-49ff-4d94-9497-8916eef21a65">Dating app usage</h2>When people's finances are flourishing, they often engage in romance via in-person activities, going out for dinner and drinks with potential partners who they've met out and about while spending their money, Kissick said.But when a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2008/12/recession-leads-to-surge-in-online-dating">recession looms</a>, dating apps may see a surplus of users and an uptick in activity as people increasingly rely on the internet to meet new people."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/restaurants-america-eating-out-crisis-your-fault-labor-shortage-tipping-2024-2">Dining out</a> is another elastic good and one of the first things to go," Kissick said. "When we're out in public less often, we're less likely to meet our soulmate, so we turn to dating apps."The New York Times <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/fashion/12dating.html">reported</a> in 2009 that online matchmakers were seeing a surge in interest even amid the drudge of the 2008 financial crisis.Online dating is an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rising-cost-dating-millennials-gen-z-soaring-cost-love-apps-2024-8">inexpensive way to meet people</a>, and unemployed people tend to have more time on their hands, the outlet reported at the time.<h2 id="9c0df9d3-5935-4296-a21f-20e306151c64">Business disputes</h2>Trouble in middle-market paradise may also be a recession indicator, said Michael Platner, a corporate finance attorney and strategist at Lewis Brisbois.Platner pointed to an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-corporate-bankruptcies-fed-rate-cuts-consumer-retail-spending-fisker-2024-7">uptick in private company insolvencies</a>, partner fights, and business disputes as common recession harbingers. Difficult financial times often require business owners to take decisive action, which can reveal a partner or executive who isn't able to handle the new pressures, extra hours, or less cash, he said."In hard times, it's not uncommon for simmering partner issues to come to the top and for one partner to blame the other for not pulling their weight," he told BI.Law firms are perhaps especially primed to look for business disputes. The International Bar Association <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ibanet.org/preparing-for-a-global-economic-downturn-the-outlook-for-in-house-counsel">wrote</a> last year that "issues can arise or intensify in regard" to a company's workforce during difficult economic times.Corporate bankruptcies, meanwhile, jumped by 30% from 2022 to 2023, Reuters <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/us-business-bankruptcies-rose-30-court-stats-show-2023-10-26/">reported</a> last year.<h2 id="f18372df-c244-403e-a2c7-fcc77dac04ee">Men's underwear</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mens-underwear-index-economy-indicator-2014-9">The Men's Underwear Index</a> posits that a decline in men's underwear sales indicates budget-tightening on non-visible essentials, potentially pointing to a recession, Earle told BI.Made famous by former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, the theory suggests men stop buying new underwear during difficult financial times because it's a garment most people won't actually see on a day-to-day basis.The underwear indicator is far from foolproof but has proven true in some past recessions. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-signs-unusual-clues-lipstick-underwear-index-2023-4">Men's underwear sales fell</a> in 2008 and 2009, Business Insider previously reported, as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic.<div type="image" title="Underwear for sale are pictured at an Abercrombie &amp; Fitch Co store in Pasadena, California March 3, 2015. Abercrombie &amp; Fitch is slated to release its fourth-quarter fiscal 2014 results on Wednesday. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni " height="533" width="800" msid="112994384" hostid="261" sizebytes="24744"></div><h2 id="853b973d-e067-4035-83bf-381053f561c3">Pawn shop boom</h2>An increase in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/personal-loans/what-is-a-pawn-shop-loan">pawn shop activity </a>can suggest financial strain, as the stores offer desperate people a chance to make some quick cash, Earle said.Inventory at pawn shops typically balloons during difficult times while sales dip. USA Today <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/24/pawnshops-tell-different-economic-story-than-biden/72881561007/">reported</a> in March that pawn shops were witnessing a "glut" of inventory, indicating people don't have much cash on hand.Similarly, rising sales at dollar stores or increased activity at secondhand stores are also signs that consumers are cutting back, Earle said.Back in 1990, the Los Angeles Times <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-me-7046-story.html">reported</a> that pawnbrokers are traditionally a trustworthy recession predictor. During some historical recessions and depressions, lines have formed outside pawn shops as people seek out loans.

Lipstick sales and strippers' tips: 6 weird indicators a recession could be coming  

<ul class="summary-list"><li>GeoStabilization International will share a $75 million pot with workers following its sale by KKR.</li><li>About 900 staff will get payments of up to $325,000 following the sale.</li></ul>The private equity industry has had a PR problem, facing accusations of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-deadly-sins-of-private-equity-2016-9">greed and elitism</a> — but some firms are now trying to do something about that.KKR, one of the biggest players, is selling a company called <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240926128753/en/KKR-to-Sell-GeoStabilization-International-to-Leonard-Green-Partners">GeoStabilization International</a> to Leonard Green &amp; Partners.It will share $75 million of the proceeds with about 900 staff, mainly construction workers, at the geohazard mitigation and road safety services provider, KKR said.Depending on their role and tenure, those who joined GeoStabilization before last December will get payments of between three months of annual salary to more than three years. The longest-serving staff will get about $325,000. KKR is also offering personal financial coaching and tax preparation services to workers.Pete Stavros, its global cohead of private equity, has shown <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kkr-peter-stavros-private-equity-chi-overhead-doors-sale-2022-6">a commitment to offering equity to staff</a>. In April 2022, he launched <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://ownershipworks.org/">Ownership Works</a>, a nonprofit that promotes giving workers a stake in the businesses they work for.GeoStabilization was a "prime example of what ownership cultures can accomplish within the services sector and speaks to the power of an engaged workforce," Stavros said in a press release.Sales often trigger bonuses for senior management, but KKR has made similar awards to nearly 110,000 blue-collar employees in 50 companies since 2011.However, the sum being given to staff is less than 10% of the deal's reported $1 billion total. The sale gives KKR a return of five times the equity it invested in December 2018 and reflects a near-tripling of revenue and profits in that period.

900 workers will share a $75 million pot after KKR sale — with some getting $325,000 windfalls 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Dell introduced a new hybrid work policy to get workers back to the office in February. </li><li>Nearly half the company's full-time US staff have chosen to stay remote, data seen by BI shows.</li></ul>Remote working is the new norm for many white-collar workers, but their bosses still aren't on board.Rather than accept the shift in working culture, some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-making-workers-employees-return-to-office-rto-wfh-hybrid-2023-1">employers</a> have resorted to strict mandates and punitive policies to get employees back in the office.Dell has been trying its best to do the same.In February, the tech giant introduced a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-remote-workers-promotion-return-office-push-flexible-work-2024-3">return-to-office mandate</a>, telling workers to formally classify themselves as either hybrid or remote.Those who chose remote are no longer eligible for promotion or able to change roles. Meanwhile, hybrid workers must come into the office 39 days a quarter, roughly three days a week, and their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-hybrid-return-to-office-mandate-monitor-employees-onsite-attendance-2024-5">attendance is monitored</a> using a color-coded system.Several months after this RTO policy was announced, it appears it hasn't worked.Close to 50% of Dell's full-time workers in the US have opted to stay remote, according to internal data on the entire full-time workforce seen by Business Insider.Unless they agree to change their classification, those US Dell workers are now ineligible for promotion.The data showed that around a third of international staff chose to stay remote.<div type="image" title="Dell Technologies building in Round Rock, Texas" height="683" width="1024" msid="111114123" hostid="261" sizebytes="139616"></div>Dell did not answer specific questions from BI regarding the data, but said it believes "in-person connections paired with a flexible approach are critical to drive innovation and value differentiation."The data seen by BI isn't available to all Dell employees, but many confirmed anecdotally that half or more of their team had opted to stay remote."My team is spread out around the world. Almost 90% of the team did the same as in our case there was no real advantage going to the office," one worker said.Eleven employees from sales, tech support, engineering, and HR departments spoke to BI to explain why they opted for remote work despite losing their shot at career progression. All the employees asked to remain anonymous as they are not permitted to speak to the media.<h2 id="0a34044e-7606-4d86-a686-754de5463771">The benefits of WFH</h2>For several Dell employees, the personal and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-work-jobs-costs-internet-speeds-job-openings-2024-5">financial benefits</a> of working remotely were too good to give up."I benefited a lot from being WFH since 2020 and had a lot of personal growth. I'm not willing to give that up if I don't have to," one employee told BI.The staffer explained that prior to COVID-19, their life "was basically home and work," and there was little time for anything else.Like many who started working remotely during the pandemic, the Dell worker said working from home gave them more time to spend with family, exploring hobbies, and meeting friends outside the workplace."The more time I have to spend in the office, the less time, money, and personal space I have for all of that. I can do my job just as well from home and have all of those personal benefits as well,' they said."With the salary that we are receiving, a return to the office would leave a huge hole in our budget," said another employee, citing the cost of commuting and meals at work.<h2 id="f1e9c4d2-ad87-435a-a848-374e36c8ecb2">Some workers have 'no office to return to'</h2>Some staff said they had no choice but to classify as remote because offices nearby had been shut down or were too far away to commute to."Dell closed down the facility in 2020 that I worked at, so I have no office to return to," one worker explained.But with teams spread across multiple states and time zones, some of those who did live near an office felt it was pointless to show up."The particular work I'm doing now means I don't really have a 'team,' and the people I work with most are at different sites," one employee told BI.Another staffer on a global team said their schedule required the flexibility of working from home: "I am not going to work eight hours in a Dell office and then come home and work three more hours in meetings with my folks in India or Malaysia."The staffer said there had been no response from HR about how the new policy had restricted the team.Several of BI's sources said their colleagues who opted for hybrid work have described near-empty offices in some locations."My meetings are now with people in different conference rooms across the country by themselves," a remote employee told BI."The reality of this thing is dumb."<div type="image" title="Jeff Clark Dell" height="2191" width="3000" msid="111114125" hostid="261" sizebytes="287720"></div>Another staffer told BI that some had questioned the logic behind the new policy in a company town hall and was told by COO Jeff Clark that working in an office can allow staff to spread knowledge among each other.Clark did not respond to a request for comment from BI.<h2 id="668616bc-a0b9-4345-a384-6ee9cc00877e">'A meaningless threat'</h2>Several senior employees told BI that because they had already moved up the ranks, there was really no more promotion Dell could give them."I've got nothing left to get promoted to unless I want to get into management," said one senior engineer.A more junior employee pointed out that, regardless of the policy, promotion opportunities have felt limited in recent years."I know a few people who probably would have been deterred from staying remote due to the threat of the possibility of promotion, but since there haven't been any opportunities, they saw it as a meaningless threat."<a target="_blank" href="https://investors.delltechnologies.com/static-files/12b9be7b-2d4c-4d63-b7d3-8bb467724952">In its latest full year results</a>, Dell reported annual revenue of $88.4 billion, a 14% decline from 2023 and below pre-pandemic earnings. <a target="_blank" href="https://investors.delltechnologies.com/static-files/dc22bb7f-7eac-4ac1-92f4-40cb2d99cd43">In the first quarter of its 2025 financial year,</a> the company reported $22.2 billion in revenue, up 6% from the same quarter the previous year.<div type="image" title="Michael Dell at the Featured Session: Business, Life, and the Magic of Austin: A Conversation with Michael Dell as part of SXSW 2024 Conference and Festivals held at Austin Convention Center on March 14, 2024 in Austin, Texas." height="683" width="1024" msid="111114121" hostid="261" sizebytes="25152"></div>As the reality of Dell's new working culture has set in, several employees told BI they were looking to leave the company."Every mom that I talk to at Dell says that they are looking for other jobs because they need the remote work," said one employee.Another said he was looking for new jobs and would "jump ship" as soon as he found something. Almost everyone he knew at the company, other than very junior employees, was doing the same thing."Before this whole fiasco, I wouldn't have considered going somewhere else," he added. "Being a second-class citizen doesn't leave you any career opportunities."Are you a worker at Dell or another company pushing staff back to the office? Contact this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:pthompson@businessinsider.com">pthompson@businessinsider.com</a>

Almost half of Dell's full-time US workforce has rejected the company's return-to-office push

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tesla is reducing its workforce by more than 10%, per an internal memo seen by Business Insider. </li><li>Earlier this month, Tesla's delivery numbers slumped below Wall Street expectations.</li></ul>Tesla is the latest major company to lay off employees.The company is eliminating "more than 10%" of staff globally, according to an internal memo sent by Elon Musk on Sunday, which was seen by Business Insider. The layoffs have come shortly after the carmaker posted lackluster delivery numbers.Musk wrote in the email: "There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth cycle." Some Tesla employees lost access to their emails and Teams by Monday, two people with knowledge of the matter said.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-sales-deliveries-q1-elon-musk-disappoint-fsd-2024-4">Tesla's first-quarter delivery numbers</a> disclosed a significant slump — falling below Wall Street's estimates. Tesla deliveries in the first quarter fell 20% from the previous quarter and more than 8% from the same time the previous year, marking the company's first year-on-year sales decline since 2020.In a press release, Tesla blamed the decline in deliveries on its production ramp for its <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-youtuber-tesla-refreshed-model-3-mini-model-s-2024-2">refreshed Model 3</a>, an <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teslas-gigafactory-back-business-after-arson-attack-2024-3">arson attack</a> at its factory near Berlin, and supply-chain issues caused by the Red Sea conflict.There have been rumors in recent months of a coming layoff. In February, Bloomberg reported that the carmaker called for managers to begin <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-managers-identify-key-roles-potential-layoffs-sign-report-2024-2">identifying the most vital roles</a> for the company. At the time, Tesla also delayed some workers' performance reviews, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-07/tesla-stokes-layoff-fears-by-asking-whether-jobs-are-critical">Bloomberg reported</a>. The reviews were later rescheduled, three sources told BI.A spokesperson for Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.Before the layoffs, Tesla said it employed more than <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://www.tesla.com/impact/people">140,000 workers</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.tesla.com/impact/people"> globally</a>, including over 20,000 at its Fremont factory in California.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-ceo-elon-musk">Tesla CEO Elon Musk</a> has a history of reducing staff to cut costs. The billionaire famously cut Twitter's workforce in half after he purchased the company in 2022. And Tesla has conducted <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-layoffs">several rounds of layoffs</a> before.Last year, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/union-accuses-tesla-illegally-firing-employees-workers-united-campaign-report-2023-2">Tesla laid off dozens of its employees</a> working on its Autopilot service at one of its sites in Buffalo, New York. At the time, the company said the terminations had nothing to do with a union campaign at the facility that had been announced the week before. The company said it dismissed the employees for poor performance.Tesla appeared to slow down its hiring last year. Musk told staff in May that he must personally <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-email-tesla-approve-new-hires-2023-5">approve all new Tesla hires</a>.During <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-earnings-report-q4-call-tsla-price-live-updates-2024-1">Tesla's earnings call</a> in January, Musk warned of a <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-avoid-ev-sales-slowdown-china-byd-2024-1">sales slowdown</a> in 2024 and said the company was "between two major growth waves."Over the past year, the automaker has continually <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-price-cuts-electric-cars-losing-business-strategy-2023-11">slashed prices</a> for its vehicles and <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-will-try-advertising-first-time-2023-5">tried its hand at advertising</a> for the first time in the company's history. Tesla is also facing increased <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-q4-sales-less-than-china-byd-2024-1">competition from Chinese automakers</a>.Musk has also warned that Tesla could face production hurdles in the coming year as it tries to ramp up production of the Cybertruck and Tesla's next-gen vehicle platform.Do you work for Tesla or have insight to share? Reach out to the reporter from a non-work email and device at gkay@insider.com

Tesla is laying off more than 10% of its workforce, memo shows 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Dell is restructuring its sales division and cutting staff as part of its "modernization."</li><li>Managers and senior managers were the main targets of layoffs, employees told Business Insider.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-dell-workers-reject-return-to-office-hybrid-work-2024-6">Dell</a> has laid off staff as part of a significant restructuring of its sales division.In an internal memo titled "Global Sales Modernization Update" sent to staff on Monday, the computer maker unveiled plans to centralize sales teams and modernize internal operations to prepare for "the world of AI."Sales divisions are being consolidated and a new AI Select Sales team created, the memo stated. As part of that move, an undisclosed number of employees were let go."We are getting leaner. We're streamlining layers of management and reprioritizing where we invest," senior executives Bill Scannell and John Byrne wrote in the internal email, seen by Business Insider."We don't do this lightly as we know these changes impact people and our teams. The destination is going to be worth it — it's about winning and winning big!" the two executives concluded in the memo.A Dell representative told BI that sales teams were being reorganized and an "ongoing series of actions" were underway to make the company leaner.Five employees in the sales division told BI they had been laid off, or knew of several colleagues who had been let go. Those affected were mostly managers and senior managers, some with 20-plus years of experience, they said."It was mostly managers, directors and VPs. They also hit marketing and operations. They combined organizations and also made the ratio higher for the managers," one employee, who asked to remain anonymous for job security, told BI. "Now every manager has a minimum of 15 employees."A second sales worker said: "Several managers that have been here for a long time got let go. It just kind of shows you it doesn't matter how much effort you put into this job. As soon as it helps their bottom line, you're gone."A BI source at Dell with access to leadership discussions said there was a sense the company had "too many middle management" roles, meaning some directors and senior directors would be cut.The person added that more layoffs were expected, leading to the "largest cut in history coming this summer."Dell has already carried out <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-remote-workers-promotion-return-office-push-flexible-work-2024-3">several rounds of layoffs</a> since February 2023, bringing the overall workforce down from 130,000 to about 120,000.One Dell sales worker said that they were exhausted and frustrated by the process."Every six months we have layoffs," the employee said. "There are no opportunities to move up. I have been looking for a new job outside of Dell for nine months."Have you been laid off by Dell, or are still working at the company? Contact this reporter in confidence at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:pthompson@businessinsider.com">pthompson@businessinsider.com</a>

Dell lays off some managers and sales staff to get 'leaner' amid a 'modernization' 

<keyword id="19895433" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tesla" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Tesla" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Tesla">Tesla</keyword> is on the brink again. Sales are slowing even after the company slashed prices. The company is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-layoffs-job-cuts-2024-2">laying off 10% of its workforce</a> — 14,000 workers from Shanghai to San Jose, from the factory floor to the executive suite. The company had to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-recalls-cybertrucks-accelerator-fault-pad-pedal-electric-vehicle-truck-2024-4">recall every single Cybertruck</a> it shipped. And Tesla's position in China, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-electric-cars-ev-elon-musk-tesla-byd-price-war-2024-4">a country that has become critical</a> to its future, is getting shakier.There's only one person to blame for the company's shambolic state and only one person whose exit could save Tesla: <keyword id="19903807" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Elon-Musk" source="keywords">Elon Musk</keyword>. For the past few years, Tesla has looked unstoppable, but during those high times, Musk failed to implement any strategy that would insulate the company from what has become a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-price-cuts-electric-cars-losing-business-strategy-2023-11">violent global electric-vehicle price war</a>. The company is incinerating cash, losing market share, and holding more aging inventory than ever before.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-tsla-quarterly-earnings-call-report-live-updates-2024-4">Tesla reported its first-quarter earnings</a> on Tuesday and missed expectations across the board, even though Wall Street was already expecting the worst. Earnings per share came in at $0.45, lower than analysts' expectations of $0.52. Free cash flow fell a stunning 674% as Tesla focused on AI research and making capital improvements. Gross profit fell 18% from the same time a year ago, and gross margins fell from 19.3% to 17.4% over the same period. If Tesla the company were a car, this is when you start to hear it make a rattling sound.The company's problem isn't a matter of getting through "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-podcast-workers-model-3-production-hell-sewage-sleeping-floor-2023-8">production hell</a>" or "delivery hell" on a new model, which Tesla has been able to survive. Hell is, at the very least, a location. Tesla's problem is that it has no clear direction. It doesn't matter how much cash a company has on hand if it's blowing it on products that aren't ready to scale — like a robotaxi. Or cars that no one wants — like its dated models.Musk seems to understand at least that much: For years, Tesla has teased the development of the Model 2 — a $25,000 Tesla for the everyman. This is the car the market wants, and a Reuters report from earlier this month that the Model 2 was being scrapped (which Musk denied) sent the stock into a tailspin. Given this clear signal from investors, the company pivoted and announced in its earnings release that it planned to speed up production of "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cheaper-teslas-arriving-sooner-than-planned-2024-4">new and more affordable products</a>" to early 2025. Wall Street ate this up: in spite of the miserable results, Tesla's stock has gained nearly 20% since the earnings announcement and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-investors-cheaper-cars-soon-musk-said-earnings-stock-up-2024-4">analysts were falling over themselves</a> to praise the news. It's like people have never seen this play from Musk before, but anyone who's been following Tesla knows we have.Musk is notorious for delivering so late that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cybertruck-release-date-delivery-delay-signs-2023-9">any sort of timelines</a> are to be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-roadster">taken with a grain of salt</a>. Even Musk's most loyal shareholders — like Ross Gerber of investment firm Gerber Kawasaki — were dubious. In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday after Tesla's report, Gerber said that he "can't rely" on what the company says about timelines anymore. In the company's post-earnings conference call, Musk only mentioned vague plans for speeding up the production process and spent more time talking about his far-off vision for an Uber-like robotaxi fleet."I'd say at least eight to nine years before they get a robotaxi working," Tu Le, the founder of the electric-vehicle consultancy Sino Auto Insights, told me in a recent interview. "I think they'd argue that they already made it. But I'm thinking about the best-case scenario. And I'm being very optimistic.Being late wasn't a problem when Tesla was the only company making good EVs, but that's not the case anymore. Musk does not have eight or nine years to save Tesla, and making vague promises to deliver a new car that the market actually wants — while appealing to Wall Street — does not relieve the pressures the company is facing now. On one side of the world, competitors in China can make <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-waging-price-war-against-chinese-rivals-2024-4">cars at a much lower cost</a>. On the other side, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-pulling-back-electric-vehicle-production-again-2024-4">legacy automakers</a> are leaning on their combustion-engine and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-buyer-interest-hybrids-as-electric-vehicle-adoption-slowing-2023-10">hybrid car sales</a> to make it through the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-sales-miss-ev-slowdown-new-wave-customers-2024-4">slowdown in demand for electric cars</a>. If the Chinese market is a rock, then Western markets are a hard place. Tesla is caught in between. The company needs a serious leader with practical ideas — no self-driving gimmicks, no blowtorches, no broken Cybertrucks, no shitposting, no video-game marathons, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-work-microdosing-lsd-psilocybin-ketamine-retreats-elon-musk-2024-3">no casual ketamine use</a>. Basically, no Elon. It needs a singularly focused, ruthlessly productive leader who can deliver the Model 2 — without copious delays.On Tuesday, Musk addressed the recent round of layoffs by saying that Tesla needed to restructure itself for a "new phase of growth." He's right about that, the carmaker does need a major shake-up — starting with him.The future did not have to look this ugly for Tesla. In 2020, the company was on top of the world. Its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-china-gigafactory-shanghai-fremont-california-factory-2021-10">Shanghai plant started cranking out</a> lower-cost, higher-margin cars. It was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-germany-gigafactory-final-approval-2022-3">building a plant in Germany</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-elon-musk-gigafactory-texas-cyber-rodeo-2022-4">another one in Texas</a>. It <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-delivery-record-q2-annual-sales-2021-7">sold more cars</a> than ever before. Consistent annual profits led to a <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tesla-market-cap-500-billion-stock-price-rally-elon-musk-2020-11-1029835478">glorious stock market rally</a>, and Wall Street rejoiced.What did Musk do with those glory days? He <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/elon-musk-sell-tesla-stock-buy-twitter-deal-net-worth-2023-4">sold a bunch of his Tesla stock</a> to buy Twitter, tried to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-to-take-elon-musk-court-fight-close-deal-2022-7">get out of the deal</a>, and then was forced to go through with it. He <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starship-launch-rocket-blows-up-explosion-elon-musk-mars-2023-11">blew up some rockets</a> (to be fair, some also made it to space). He <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-monkeys-live-in-paradise-denies-gruesome-deaths-2023-11">implanted a brain chip</a> into a bunch of monkeys. He brought a kitchen sink to work and added a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-tesla-ceo-job-broken-chief-hypocrisy-officer-2022-11">few more CEO jobs to his plate</a>. He publicly bungled Gov. Ron DeSantis' attempt to launch a presidential campaign. At Tesla, Musk delivered about 4,000 Cybertrucks — every one of which has been recalled for faulty acceleration — while frittering away any goodwill the company has with its core customers.What I'm saying is that as much as Tesla accomplished in the past few years, it's clear Musk should've spent more time with it. Tesla failed to craft a strategy for chaotic times in what is still clearly a nascent EV industry. Sure, the company has been on a multiyear campaign to get lean and cut costs, but that strategy isn't enough to balance out price cuts, weak demand, and the need for major capital expenditures to get through this period of fleet stagnation. A true visionary CEO — which Musk has long claimed to be — would have pressed the advantage that Tesla developed in the EV market. They would've done research to try to understand what EV demand would look like after early adopters bought cars. They'd know what kinds of buyers would enter the market at that stage and which kinds of cars those buyers would want. A true visionary CEO would meet those customers where they are. Back in November, I spoke with Navdeep Sodhi, a pricing analyst at Sodhi Pricing Associates, who told me that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-tesla-price-cuts-electric-cars-losing-business-strategy-2023-11">Tesla should advertise</a> to educate the public about the cost benefits of its cars, like savings on gas. Advertising could have also helped assuage concerns about issues like range anxiety. This month, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-new-marketing-team-advertising-cut-layoffs-2024-4">Tesla laid off its entire marketing team</a>.For years analysts warned Musk that competition was coming, not just from legacy automakers but from the very Chinese market that fostered Tesla's success. Beijing has a pattern of supporting Western companies in China's markets in order to foster competition, then, once China-based rivals are able to catch up, tipping the scales in favor of homegrown companies. Add in the fact that Beijing has cornered nearly every aspect of the battery supply chain — from mining and refining metals to manufacturing the batteries themselves — which has helped China's EV makers to churn out models at price points as low as four figures. The new options have put Tesla on the back foot in one of its most important markets: <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tesla-stock-vehicle-model-y-price-cuts-tsla-elon-musk-2024-4">Tesla's share of China's car market shrank</a> to 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 10.3% at the beginning of the year.To maintain its lead, Tesla should have been singularly focused on building the Model 2 — moving down the pricing scale to where there were more customers. But it stopped innovating, the Model 2 hasn't materialized, and Musk's realization that the company needs to actually deliver on a Tesla-for-the-people may be coming too late. Instead of boosting sales with an impressive or accessible new option, Tesla has tried to goose demand by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-slashes-prices-suv-cars-self-driving-software-before-earnings-2024-4">erratically lowering the prices</a> of its existing models to increase volume. This has not worked as planned: automotive revenue fell 13% from the same time last year, according to Tuesday's earnings release, and gross margins in the automotive division fell to 14.8% from 18% a year before.Tesla has always been a "growth" company, the up-and-coming player taking on the legacy automakers. But now the company has entered a new stage of development — it's a large, mature firm, and continuing to grow requires larger amounts of capital, discipline, and focus. There was never a moment for Musk to rest on his laurels, but after 2020 Tesla started to look less like a place where Musk was constantly innovating and more like a place where Musk sourced cash to do whatever else he wanted with his life. Maybe he got bored, or maybe he got distracted — either way, Musk stopped pushing the envelope at Tesla way too early.During the conference call, Musk had a million excuses for why this quarter was so poor — Houthi agitation in the Red Sea, an arson in Berlin, updates at the Fremont Factory. He asserted that Tesla was not a car company but rather an AI robotics company. He spoke ad nauseam about turning Tesla into a self-driving Uber service but refused to answer any questions about the Model 2. Look over here. Look over there. Pay no attention to exactly how we're going to deliver his cheaper car. Wall Street has fallen for this before, and it's becoming embarrassing that it has fallen for it again — especially at a time when Tesla and the EV market are in such a different position. The gestures toward actually producing the Model 2 drove a post-earnings stock pop, but given Musk's years of distraction and myriad projects, shareholders should be more concerned that he may fritter away Tesla's resources on something else — whether that's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-xai-luring-more-investors-spv-high-fees">an AI that can copy his voice</a>, turning X into a dating app for libertarians, or building another vanity clown car. If the Model 2 doesn't come ASAP, it's tantamount to Tesla waving the white flag in the global EV wars for the foreseeable future. Forget growth — now the company that should have been America's EV juggernaut needs to figure out survival.When Musk entered the EV Thunderdome, Tesla was the only game in town, interest rates were at 0%, and most of the country was convinced he was Iron Man. Since then, China has become an EV power player, legacy automakers have been trying to get a cut of the action, debt has become more expensive, and half the country has started to think Musk is Lex Luthor. Things have changed, and Tesla's leadership needs to change along with them or get left behind.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/linette-lopez">Linette Lopez</a> is a senior correspondent at Business Insider.

Elon Musk just set Wall Street up for one of his classic head fakes

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sabina Horrocks plans to re-enter the workforce after her mini-retirement in a lower-stress role.</li><li>She and her husband achieved financial independence with a net worth near $2 million.</li></ul>Sabina Horrocks, 41, recently stepped away from her six-figure managerial position to care for her young daughter. But after three years of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/invest-your-money-mini-retirements-cfp-2022-9">mini-retirement</a>, she's itching to return to work.She and her husband have a net worth of just below $2 million, and both made similar incomes before she quit in 2021. Her husband has since doubled his income and has little intention of stopping, even though both could step away and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/early-retiree-shares-regrets-around-financial-independence-fire-journey-2024-5">retire early</a>.When her daughter enrolls in kindergarten soon, Horrocks said she will return to the workforce but not to the high-stress position she held. Instead, given the luxury to pursue her passions, she's considering financial coaching or planning as options."We didn't do anything extraordinary — I'd say the way we became millionaires is quite boring," she told Business Insider. "That's the thing I think most people don't understand. Becoming wealthy isn't hustles, dealmaking, and flash. It's discipline and consistency over time."Many millennials who have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fire-movement-financial-independence-retire-early-millennial-goals-saving-wealth-2024-5">achieved financial independence</a> — where people have enough to cover expenses without relying on work — are rejecting the "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-retiring-early-fire-movement-financial-independence-millionaire-savings-work-2024-5">retire early</a>" part of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/financial-independence-retire-early">FIRE acronym</a>. Some have tried out retirement but dislike the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-independence-retire-early-fire-millennial-income-wealthy-business-owners-2024-4">lack of structure</a>, while others have stepped down from high-stress positions but have embraced more casual work. Some continue rising the ranks to teach their kids strong work ethics.<h2 id="52243bc3-c892-43a2-b83d-3ca49e34fc43">Discovering financial independence</h2>Horrocks' parents came to the US in the 1970s and struggled to find work. She grew up lower-middle class in the outskirts of Chicago, and while she said her parents never had trouble putting food on the table, she lived a very modest lifestyle.She got a scholarship for her first two years of college, though she regrets not getting a computer science or math degree. Her first job was with a union, which didn't pay well. She also met her husband young, and they married after both secured their first corporate jobs.Right after their marriage, she said they were approached by a company trying to sell them financial services to help plan their financial futures. While they thought it was a scam at first, they realized this was a wake-up call to start reading up on how to plan for the next five, then 10 years. Their No. 1 change was saving much more of their income."I had never thought about our <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-peak-boomer-alice-social-security-masters-degree-student-loans-2024-5">future financial goals</a>. Nobody's ever really talked about in my house, aside from affording certain things," she said. "We were always trying to save, and my parents would go to four grocery stores on the weekends to save $3 on bread and eggs."For instance, their first home was a one-bedroom, one-bath condo that cost $137,000, significantly smaller than the homes their friends in similar financial situations were purchasing. In the late 2000s, her husband said there was no reason to spend $350,000 on a condo in a city with tons of fees when they could get a larger home in the suburbs for half the price."My husband and I have always worked together as a team, and we've treated finances in our marriage like a business. We've always had transparency, goals, and shared effort," she said. "We treat income as household income, not mine or yours. I personally don't understand how marriages can survive with no transparency and a 'my' mentality."After the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/housing-bubble">housing bubble</a> burst, their home lost $60,000 in value, and tenants rushed out of the building while others foreclosed. They were worried about what to do next, though they rented out the condo a few years later and purchased a townhome.<h2 id="992f0515-966c-4158-a205-dc66d18c1116">Strategies for achieving financial independence</h2>After doing some reading, they decided to cut back on their costs. They sold one of their cars, purchased a modest home, and limited their spending on travel and nights out with friends. They also plowed money into <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lost-big-stock-market-new-investing-strategy-2024-4">investments</a> such as ETFs and individual stocks early on.She admits they initially went a little overboard with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-to-budget">budgeting</a>, such as pushing beauty salon visits to the next month so they didn't exceed their budget. She said it "created a monster" initially, though strict budgeting helped them stay on track to reach their longer-term goals.They tried buying <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-real-estate-investor-agent-renting-versus-buying-primary-home-2024-1">investment properties</a> right after the bubble, and they acquired six condos for about $50,000 to $70,000 each. They made a $1,000 monthly profit from them, and she thought they would quit their jobs and do this full-time. Her husband hated it, though, and over time they eventually sold all their properties and put that money into retirement accounts.She continued to work up the corporate ladder, learning more about data models, Excel, and languages like SQL. Early in her career, a major layoff axed nearly her entire department, and she and her husband continued to work "extremely hard" to have a cushion in case of layoffs.In the 2010s, she bounced around a few companies as a sales operations manager, developing processes to improve efficiency and grow client bases. She also got an MBA, which her company helped pay for.She made about $120,000 a year by the time she quit, similar to her husband. Over the years, she and her husband built a net worth upwards of $1 million, and she quit knowing that they would be fine in case of future layoffs or an emergency."I think work is not the goal. People get so career-driven, thinking they need to become vice presidents or become a manager to 30 people," she said. "To me, work is just work. What's important is your friends and having time to do the thing you really want to do."She and her husband have a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/what-is-net-worth">net worth</a> of nearly $2 million. This includes about $1.16 million in retirement accounts, $460,000 in an after-tax brokerage account, $250,000 in home equity, $30,000 in an HSA, $25,000 in a 529, and $25,000 in savings.<h2 id="a6a415e6-d68e-45d1-8682-6e067f56fed5">Rejecting 'RE' and returning to work</h2>After she had her baby, her husband took paternity leave while she returned to her managerial position. She recalled having eight hours of meetings one day that she had no desire to attend, and she decided that day to quit."I didn't want to be locked in a room for eight hours talking about how the website should be or picklist values when I could just be here with my baby," she said. "My husband was like, you can just quit. We have enough money coming in from rental properties, my husband was doing pretty well at his job, and I was work-optional."They've become more relaxed about their spending and invest in meaningful experiences. Last month, she decided to go on a transatlantic cruise with her daughter and mom."We're at a point now where we're able to do things like that, and I think it was because, in our 20s, we made some big sacrifices," she said. "We had a small wedding, we lived in a small place, we've only had one car for most of our marriage."Still, Horrocks thinks she's ready to return to the workforce. She no longer needs to strive for the highest-paying or most prestigious position, and she's considered becoming a financial coach to help people achieve their financial goals."I think a lot of Financial Advisors make finance complicated and don't make it transparent in a real everyday way," she said. "Also, a lot of financial advisors don't have their client's best interests at heart and aren't wealthy themselves."She acknowledges she feels some imposter syndrome, questioning if people would listen to a stay-at-home mom, though she said she wants to help people become financially confident. She also hopes to continue writing for her blog, <a target="_blank" href="https://themoneyaires.com/">the Moneyaires</a>."Who better to learn from than someone who has walked the walk?" she said.Are you part of the FIRE movement or living by some of its principles? Reach out this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:nsheidlower@businessinsider.com">nsheidlower@businessinsider.com</a>.

A millennial who had a mini-retirement at 38 shares her strategies for achieving financial independence &mdash; and why she wants to return to the workforce

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Wayfair is laying off 13% of its global workforce, or about 1,650 staff.</li><li>"I truly regret the impact this will have on you," CEO Niraj Shah told staff.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wayfair-layoffs-jobs-staff-returned-profit-niraj-shah-2024-1">Wayfair</a> said on Friday that it was cutting 13% of its global workforce, or about 1,650 workers.This came only weeks after CEO Niraj Shah sent a companywide email saying <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wayfair-profitable-again-ceo-email-frugal-work-long-hours-2023-12">Wayfair was "back to winning"</a> but also warning that staff should be careful with its money.In an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aboutwayfair.com/category/company-news/a-message-from-wayfair-ceo-and-co-founder-niraj-shah">email that announced the layoffs</a> to staff on Friday morning, Shah said the action was needed for the company to have a "clean organizational model," which he said would aid it over the long term."I truly regret the impact this will have on you," Shah told staff.North American staff would receive an email shortly letting them know whether their roles had been affected, while laid-off staff in Europe had already begun discussions with human resources about the next steps, Shah said.He added that affected workers were being given severance pay, though details of this weren't included in the companywide email.Read the full email Shah sent to Wayfair staff below.Fellow Wayfairians,Today, I wanted to give you an update on Wayfair, where we sit, and the difficult steps we're taking this morning to make us stronger. First, I want to be clear that there are many things at the company that are going well. We are consistently profitable; we have made meaningful progress to operate more efficiently and effectively; our suppliers see us winning; and most importantly our customers are leaning in and picking us over their other options, which means we're gaining market share at a fast pace.All very good news but as leaders our job is to position the company both now and over the long term. Although we've taken important steps to get ourselves optimized to win and fit for the future, the reality is they have not gotten us to where we need to be, which is to have a clean organizational model that provides a healthy foundation to grow from. That's why I pushed forward with an org design effort driven by some core organizational principles. As a result of this effort, I have made the difficult decision to further reduce our headcount today.In North America, all employees will receive an email shortly on whether or not your role is impacted. If it is, you'll also receive details on next steps, including opportunities to connect live with your Talent partners. Teams in Europe have already begun these conversations.I want to say thank you to the 1,650 team members who will be leaving us today. You are all valued and talented individuals, and you have each made incredible contributions to Wayfair and our customers. We know you will land in great roles given your strong skills and expansive experience, but this is still sad for everyone. You have so much to be proud of, and I truly regret the impact this will have on you.Please know that we are offering severance to those who are impacted, and we will support them throughout this transition. We will also be providing access to employee assistance program resources and Wayfair Alumni networking support, as well as other benefits and resources.The natural question is to ask 'Why?' I think the reality is that we went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there. The best way to make sure everyone in the company can thrive and that we can do the most for our customers is to make sure that we make the right decision in terms of what our go-forward organization should look like. While our focus today is on our people, I want to spend some time explaining how we got here and the thinking we used to make these decisions.Looking back From 2002 - 2011 we did not have much money. That sometimes seemed limiting as our primary direct competitors in the US and UK spent significant amounts of money raised from top tier investors. But by being lean and focused we were forced to prioritize relentlessly. By 2014 we were publicly traded in the US, and a new tech boom was just starting.By 2016 we were growing fast and the allure of spending more to build infrastructure for growth became appealing. We (along with most tech companies) took advantage of easy access to money. One of the things I am proud that we did during this time was build our industry leading logistics infrastructure. This was expensive, but it has given us a durable moat. From 2017-2019 we opened up hiring significantly, going after many things that looked like good opportunities. As a result, by late 2019, we were suffering from lack of focus. Too many good ideas led to too few getting done. We made the decision to fix this and reduced our team in Feb 2020 with the intent of getting back to our roots.Then, Covid hit us square on. Covid caused a dramatic surge in our business, and suddenly the newly leaned down team felt like a disadvantage. With annualized sales going from $9 billion to $18 billion almost overnight our desire to grow our team was rekindled.By mid 2022 it was clear we were in a bust period. It was also clear that we had gone overboard with corporate hiring during Covid. As everyone here knows, we've had two significant corporate restructurings since 2022 to try to right-size this. Each time we used our best judgment, identified the cost target we needed to hit, and believed we were resizing to the right point. These changes were difficult emotionally and have felt challenging for the business. What we found, however, was that after each reduction we have gotten more of our goals done faster.I believe we need to stay focused as a company on what committed small teams can accomplish. In many ways, having too many great people is worse than having too few. With too few, you get a lot done quickly, but you may not get everything done that you want. But having too many causes inefficiency, coordination costs, and investments in lower return activities. That is what we have been experiencing and what we need to end.Returning to core organizational principlesThat is why we are committed to taking a different approach. We decided that we needed to start with a few basic principles of good organizational design, of how to build a high performance company, one with the ability to get a lot done, and to flex over time - rather than a cost target - and take a bottoms-up approach. What is the right number of people a lean organization should allocate to each of the high value things we want to do? At what level? We need senior leaders, but importantly we built the company by betting on junior people who are very bright but have less expertise. We need to get back to this. Likewise we should only do high value things because doing more past that creates drag that slows us down. This time the goal was to err on carrying a risk of too few over the risk of too many. And so we approached it with a strong bias to firmly put the last five years behind us.To do this we used a few basic principles:<ol><li>question/rightsize the quantum of work effort per activity area -- decide what work we want to do and eliminate any work effort that is then deemed secondary or tertiary, after all we can always reexamine as the business evolves</li><li>get efficient on levels &amp; spans -- what level/seniority is appropriate for what role, what span should each manager have in terms of breadth of activity and number of reports, etc.</li><li>eliminate excess upleveling for 'stakeholder management' -- senior people in one area with too much time then cause the next area to need senior people to meet with them, and this is circular</li><li>Rightsize the ratio of engineering partner function teams to engineers -- since any excess of partner roles (business, product, design, research, analytics) will not create better technology outcomes and rather will do the opposite</li></ol>By starting with these principles, as opposed to a cost target, we will get back to focused, fit and lean. And we will do this while remaining committed to our growth drivers, leaning into the handful of key things that truly matter for each. While the investment community will focus on the cost savings numbers today, the key thing for us to focus on is that a company cannot win over time unless it gets more done per dollar spent than its competitors. These steps position us to keep winning. And winning is what ultimately creates the most opportunity for everyone at Wayfair, and everyone who believes in Wayfair. To our team, I can only say thank you. We are learning as fast as we can, and we are working hard to make the right decision at each juncture, even when they are hard decisions.We are gaining forward momentum due to everyone's dedicated efforts. Our toughest stretch is now behind us. And I think our best year is right in front of us. We will get together next week as a team to talk more about these changes and the road ahead.Thanks for your investment in Wayfair, and thank you to all of my past, current and future colleagues for joining in the journey.— Niraj

Read the email Wayfair's CEO sent to staff announcing that it's laying off 13% of its workforce 

Chinese conglomerate <keyword id="212412" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="tencent" source="Orion">Tencent</keyword> has fired 5,500 employees, after posting a revenue of $19.8 billion in the June quarter, down 3 per cent which is the first decline since going public. China's largest video gaming and social media company trimmed nearly 5,500 employees from its payroll in the second quarter amid a slowing economy, reports <keyword id="62481" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="south-china-morning-post" source="Orion">South China Morning Post</keyword>. Tencent has downsized its <keyword id="52626" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="workforce" source="Orion">workforce</keyword> for the first time since 2014, slashing the number of employees to 110,715 by the end of June, down from 116,213 in March, according to the company. "During the second quarter, we actively exited non-core businesses, tightened our marketing spending, and trimmed operating expenses, enabling us to sequentially increase our non-IFRS earnings, despite difficult revenue conditions," said Pony Ma Huateng, founder and chief executive of Tencent. Net income reached 18 billion yuan in the period, down 56 per cent from a year ago, missing analysts' estimates of 25 billion yuan. Reports have also surfaced that Tencent was considering selling some or all of its 17 per cent stake in <keyword id="685450" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="meituan" source="Orion">Meituan</keyword>, one of China's largest food delivery companies. The company, however, denied this news during the earnings call on Wednesday. Video gaming sales at home and globally both declined. The company attributed the weak performance to "fewer big game releases, lower user spending, and the implementation of minor protection measures". SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/centre-to-form-panel-to-seek-views-on-adopting-universal-charger-model/articleshow/93634963.cms">Centre to form panel to seek views on adopting universal charger model</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/netflix-will-not-allow-you-to-watch-movies-and-shows-offline-in-the-ad-supported-tier/articleshow/93634420.cms">Netflix will not allow you to watch movies and shows offline in the ad-supported tier</a>

Tencent fires 5.5K workers as sales down for 1st time since going public

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Google has about 800 full-time workers in South Korea but reportedly wants to reduce its workforce.</li><li>Some workers are resisting the company's suggestions to leave, The Korea JoongAng Daily reported. </li></ul>Google wants to reduce its headcount, but some workers in South Korea are refusing to leave. The tech giant has about 800 full-time employees in South Korea. Despite trying to shrink its workforce since last year, some employees are <a target="_blank" href="https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-01-22/business/industry/EXCLUSIVE-Big-Tech-layoffs-loom-in-Korea-as-furious-workers-revolt/1963248">declining the company's recommendation to resign</a>, The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported. About 10 Google employees from its office in Seoul have accepted the company's suggestion to resign, the report said. But some are staying put largely because Korean labor law doesn't allow employers with five or more workers to dismiss them without just cause, Korean labor law firm KangNam <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/korean-labor-law-dismissal-after-refusing-resign-bongsoo-jung/">said.</a>KangNam's managing director Bongsoo Jung <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/korean-labor-law-dismissal-after-refusing-resign-bongsoo-jung/#:~:text=Managing%20Director%20of%20KangNam%20Labor%20Law%20Firm&amp;text=Recommended%20resignation%20occurs%20when%20an,difficulty%20of%20finding%20new%20employment.">said</a> in a LinkedIn post, "Recommended resignation occurs when an employee resigns at an employer's suggestion. In most cases, the employees will refuse to resign, as they do not wish to face the uncertainty and difficulty of finding new employment."Around 100 Google workers in Korea formed a union last year because of mounting concerns over the industrywide layoffs in the US. "With the ongoing job cuts within the US tech industry, employees have been concerned about their job security and decided to establish a union," Kim Jong-sub, head of the Google Korea union, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230420000621">told</a> The Korea Herald last April. He told The Korea JoongAng Daily that the union planned to secure an agreement with Google to ensure job security and "pursue voluntary resignation" instead of workers accepting the recommendation to resign. Voluntary resignation means a worker can sometimes get an early <a target="_blank" href="http://www.k-labor.com/eng/notice_02.asp?gubun=2&amp;idx1=92">retirement bonus.</a> Google <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-pivots-race-for-ai-supremacy-inside-google-tumultuous-2023-2023-12">laid off 12,000</a> employees in 2023 — about 6% of its headcount — and it's continuing to make job cuts this year. The company has already axed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/17/24042417/google-layoffs-2024-internal-employee-memo-sundar-pichai">more than 1,000</a> workers this month. CEO Sundar Pichai told staff in a memo obtained by The Verge that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-says-more-layoffs-to-come-2024-1">more layoffs</a> are coming this year. The company is laying off several hundred employees in its advertising-sales team, Business Insider's Hugh Langley <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-laying-off-hundreds-of-employees-in-its-advertising-team-2024-1">previously reported</a>. It has also cut hundreds of staff working on Google Assistant and members of its devices and services team. Mass job cuts have been sweeping the tech industry since last year. A total of 262,595 employees were laid off from 1,186 tech companies in 2023, Layoffs.fyi, which tracks job cuts, showed. Its <a target="_blank" href="https://layoffs.fyi/">data</a> also showed that 63 companies have cut 10,963 workers so far this year.Google didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider, made outside of normal working hours.

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