back to article Sonatype axes 14 percent of staff, reminds them not to talk to the press

Software supply chain management biz Sonatype has laid off 14 percent of its global workforce, according to internal documents seen by The Register. The job cuts, which started on Tuesday, hit about 100 people across Sonatype's sales, marketing, engineering, customer success and GA teams, according to an FAQ sent to employees …

  1. martinusher Silver badge

    Phew!

    I'm so glad I'm retired and so I never have to listen to -- or be a victim of -- such corporate BS again.

    Its not that I've never been laid off but rather this kind of corporate boilerplate cuts no ice. Its a headcount reduction to goose the bottom line, that's all. (An interesting hobby project might be to trace this kind of NewSpeak back to its origins.)

    1. Eclectic Man Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Phew!

      The level of buzzwords has broken my bingo:

      shape the organization

      maximize our future potential

      success in the marketplace

      Going forward

      alignment across teams

      essential to our success

      external inflation,

      economic headwinds,

      customers' doing their own belt tightening

      organizational structure

      unnecessary layers and top-heavy teams*

      flattened the organization

      empower employees

      improved speed of decision-making

      greater opportunities

      grow careers

      financial strength

      resilience for the company

      cloud

      customer renewal rate

      acquiring strategic new logos

      restructure

      better position

      the best possible

      software supply chain

      management solution

      accelerate Sonatype’s growth

      extend our ability

      serve market needs

      reinvest directly in product development

      advance the delivery

      platform innovations

      deeper integrations with partners

      world-class customer experience

      We take seriously

      impact

      our employees

      grateful for their hard work and contributions to the company

      *Hang on, who was responsible or the "unnecessary layers and top-heavy teams." in the first place?

      Seems to me that someone has some explaining to do.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Phew!

        For the potential supplier questionnaire

        "Send copies of your last 10 press releases on any aspect of your business."

    2. Stork

      Re: Phew!

      What annoys me is that while it is not fun, it’s a normal part of running a business to cut staff in some situations.

      How about “times are tough, and unfortunately we have to reduce staff to get the business right. Sorry folks, and good luck.”

      The marketing droid sounds right from the B-ark.

      1. Eclectic Man Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: Phew!

        How about:

        "sorry, the management fu*^%d up and they're not going to sack themselves, so you minion people are getting the chop"?

        Oh, sorry, manglement would never say that out loud.

        Troll icon, obviously this is pure invention: management never messes up.

      2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Phew!

        How about “times are tough, and unfortunately we have to reduce staff to get the business right. Sorry folks, and good luck.”

        The advantage of doing it their way is that anybody experienced and valuable, and therefore well paid and expensive to make redundant, sees the writing on the wall and quits. So not only does the next 14% fire themselves, they do it for cheap.

  2. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Alert

    An Award-Winning Workplace for Innovators

    At the time of writing, the Careers & Jobs page...

    https://www.sonatype.com/company/careers

    states:

    "An Award-Winning Workplace for Innovators

    As we continue to grow, our workplace has been recognized by industry leaders for its open culture, dedication to continuous learning, and modern approach to software development. If you're looking to make a difference while being challenged to push the envelope, you've found the right place. Apply to one of our open positions today.

    Looks like someone forgot to update the website

    1. MegaSloth

      Re: An Award-Winning Workplace for Innovators

      They sacked the guy responsible

      1. Jamesit

        Re: An Award-Winning Workplace for Innovators

        They sacked the guy that sacked the guy responsible for sacking the guy.

    2. nijam Silver badge

      Re: An Award-Winning Workplace for Innovators

      > Looks like someone forgot to update the website

      They're just carrying on the lies they told their employees, surely?

    3. ChoHag Silver badge

      Re: An Award-Winning Workplace for Innovators

      > open culture

      We found out about it already.

      > dedication to continuous learning

      In or out, they all just got an important lesson.

      > modern approach to software development

      Spot on going by this article.

  3. marknzl

    Nothing to see here, everything is good. How are you?

    So definitely systemic issues in their business, threats to their vision, and an absence of investment.

    1. NoneSuch Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Nothing to see here, everything is good. How are you?

      "The document also instructs employees to "not engage" with members of the media inquiring about the job cuts and says to "pass them directly" to Sonatype's global marketing chief Katy Hiller."

      Show the company the same loyalty they showed you.

    2. An_Old_Dog Silver badge

      Re: Nothing to see here, everything is good. How are you?

      "This workforce restructure does not reflect systemic issues in our business, threats to our vision, or an absence of investment going forward," Sonatype president Alex Berry said

      When I see or hear things like this from management, my knee-jerk reaction is to think the truth is completely opposite of whatever they wrote or said.

  4. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "gave employees strict instructions not to talk to the press"

    If you don't want anyone talking to the press it might be better to keep them all as employees.

    1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Also ... "Well, I hadn't intended to, until you told me not to."

    2. Cliffwilliams44 Silver badge

      Those instructions were for the retained employees, which is normal policy for most corporations.

      They cannot tell ex-employees who to talk to.

  5. Alistair
    Windows

    ..."Top Heavy" teams.

    i.e., they let the 'spensive folks go. Saves more munny. Mind you, I'll bet that this company will suffer from the "expired certificate fallout" in about a year or so.

    1. Aitor 1

      Fire experienced engineers

      Keep engineers based on salary.. lower salary you are retained.

      Looks like they want to keep the lowest performing ones plus young people.

      Perfect way of dooming the company.

      1. ecofeco Silver badge

        Re: Fire experienced engineers

        What's the old saying?

        "It's good to save money in business but you CAN save yourself right out of business."

      2. Woodnag

        Re: Fire experienced engineers

        Two basic choices to explain badly managed layoffs, which destroy molare in remaining employees:

        1. Poor management, in which case the company is surely at risk of failure because poor management is rarely siloed.

        2. Deliberate policy, to encourage others to resign before the next wave of let-goes.

        Either way, wouldn't want to be an investor.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Their public API of software vulnerabilities did already break last week.

  6. Potemkine! Silver badge

    Sonatype is now officially added to the Bastards list.

    This list becomes very long, doesn't it?

    1. The Oncoming Scorn Silver badge
      Coat

      & very quickly!

    2. Snowy Silver badge
      Coat

      Shorter and easier to update keep a nice list?

      1. ChoHag Silver badge

        /dev/null comes with the system already.

    3. ecofeco Silver badge

      I've not had a short list in decades.

  7. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

    America pretends they dont have blue bloods but they do....they are called leadership.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      America has always had a hidden caste system.

      1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

        Better tell that too all the downvoters on my original post above ?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        re: America has always had a hidden caste system

        Hidden you say? I beg to differ.

        If you have the right class ring on your pinkie then all sorts of doors will open to you.

        If you are female then a lot less doors will open although there are many males who would prefer if all women stayed at home, had babies and kept the hell out of business. Those Golfing Weekends are so important to male bonding and the clubs that this crowd belong to won't let women play unless it is a wet Wednesday morning.

        If you are of color or LGBT. Then all doors will remain firmly closed. Those AR-15 pins mean something understand!

        The USA has become so screwed up it is regressing fast. I don't think that it will be long before laws are passed that will erase Obama from the history books. As for the current VP? [redacted]

        1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

          Re: re: America has always had a hidden caste system

          Its always been screwed, just look at tv shows and movies, the colours and resolutions may have changed but the stereotypes are the same.

          Mexicans are always cleaners, leadership are always giving money to charity and everyone loves them, blue collar types - well watch them they are the worst always trying to con or steal and they never help anyone.

  8. sitta_europea Silver badge

    "acquiring strategic new logos"

    Huh?

    1. Stork

      I liked that too. B-ark!

    2. JamesTGrant Bronze badge

      What this means is: ‘trying to win business from new customers’

      It’s a really simple way to make it clear to the audience that the person speaking/writing is a wazzock with no real skills who is somehow in the high earners club.

  9. TimMaher Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Cowardice

    Not only are they obviously incompetent bullshitters they are also obviously gutless cowards.

    1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

      Re: Cowardice

      Isnt that true of all leadership ?

  10. Felonmarmer

    "We take seriously the impact this decision has on our employees - as well as their families - and are grateful for their hard work and contributions to the company."

    I assume the first thing they did after making this statement was make sure none of the affected personel could get to arms length of anyone in management.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh i would be so talking to the press

    And telling them where the "bodies were buried".

  12. Neoc

    Funny how most American companies' first move is to sack the people actually doing the job, but not the managers whose bad decisions led to the problem in the first place.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This is not the worst I have ever seen by a long way.

    That would have been a company I worked at in the pre-internet era. On the Friday they laid off twelve people. On the Monday the CEO rolled up in a brand new custom-built sports car, parked it in the visitors' bay and sat there revving it up.

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