{"id":1739026,"date":"2022-11-15T06:03:05","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T11:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1739026"},"modified":"2022-11-15T08:03:43","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T13:03:43","slug":"digital-culling-the-end-of-silicon-valleys-golden-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/digital-culling-the-end-of-silicon-valleys-golden-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Culling: The End of Silicon Valley\u2019s Golden Era?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdigital-culling-the-end-of-silicon-valleys-golden-era%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1739026&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><em>Commentary<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When billionaire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-twitter\">Twitter<\/a> owner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-elon-musk\">Elon Musk<\/a> cleaned out 3,700 superfluous Millennials from his company, the internet went crazy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow dare!\u201d shrieked the celebrities (who fancy themselves to be human rights lawyers).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSue them!\u201d demanded the Democrats, trampling over each other to profit from the social credit points on offer.<\/p>\n<p>The moral outrage was something to behold, with personalities like <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aoc\/status\/1588589743025303554\">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a>\u00a0(D-N.Y.) frantically posting information for workers to confront Musk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re on Twitter (or any) employee subject to mass layoffs, New York has a WARNS law too. NY WARNS requires 90 days for mass layoffs from large employers. Employers who violate may be required to back pay your wages and benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps she posted this without realising Musk\u2014the richest and most successful businessman of modern times\u2014checked with his lawyers before telling half the staff to take a hike? Plenty of users corrected her.<\/p>\n<p>Despite generous staff packages offered by Musk, there were plenty of Democrats whinging that businesses \u201ccan\u2019t just fire people!\u201d as if employment had become a right rather than a privilege (unless you\u2019re unvaccinated).<\/p>\n<p>They missed the material point.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter was a monstrosity bleeding millions when Musk acquired the company. It was riddled with superfluous departments, ineffectual tech teams, and virtue-signalling \u201csafe spaces\u201d where employees were more likely to be found napping than typing.<\/p>\n<p>No company can survive with this sort of \u201cI work when my mental health feels like it\u201d attitude prevalent among youthful tech employees.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4861141\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/11\/14\/GettyImages-1244262469.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-4861141\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/GettyImages-1244262469-600x340-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"363\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4861141\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/GettyImages-1244262469-600x340-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"363\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> This video grab taken from a video posted on the Twitter account of billionaire Tesla chief Elon Musk shows himself carrying a sink as he enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2022. (Twitter account of Elon Musk\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>We\u2019ll be kind and call this a \u201crelaxed\u201d work environment that was set up in perpetuity by former CEO Jack Dorsey and kept alive by recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jackkelly\/2022\/03\/05\/twitter-employees-can-work-from-home-forever-or-wherever-you-feel-most-productive-and-creative\/?sh=4401997115e4\">fired CEO Parag Agrawal<\/a>. Twitter bent over backwards to placate the feelings of \u201cfrightened\u201d staff during COVID\u2014never asking why they didn\u2019t mind drinking in bars but feared sitting in an office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDecisions about where you work, whether you feel safe travelling for business, and what events you attend should be yours,\u201d they declared.<\/p>\n<h2>Long Overdue Clean Out<\/h2>\n<p>Other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-silicon-valley\">Silicon Valley<\/a> tech giants have been trialling hybrid employment models. They have enough money to play around with inefficiency, which is probably why these structures are only found in companies with the luxury of lacklustre staff.<\/p>\n<p>Elon Musk didn\u2019t become the world\u2019s richest man by embracing inefficient workforces. Aside from sacking the \u201cchaff,\u201d he has made perfectly reasonable demands on the remaining staff. They will work in the office (not at home) and put in a full-time week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBasically slavery!\u201d some shouted, clearly ignorant that everyone else in the country is working a lot harder than them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWeak, pathetic, and cruel: HR managers weighed in on Elon Musk\u2019s Twitter mass layoffs,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2022\/11\/08\/elon-musk-twitter-mass-layoff-cruel-human-resources-managers\/\">wrote Fortune magazine<\/a>. Hopefully, Musk sacked the HR department first.<\/p>\n<p>But Musk\u2019s little bonfire of dreams involving 3,700 staff is tiny compared to the raging fire-front of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-facebook\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-mark-zuckerberg\">Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> has cut his team by 13 percent with 11,000 staff already sacked. The only difference is Zuckerberg did his best to sound remorseful, calling them \u201ctalented employees,\u201d while Musk made no apologies for duct-taping over Twitter\u2019s cracks.<\/p>\n<p>Where are all the social justice warriors to scream down Zuckerberg as a fascist, tyrant, and \u201cliterally Hitler?\u201d Where are the salivating Democrats sharing tips on how to sink Facebook in litigation?<\/p>\n<p>If Musk is bad, surely Zuckerberg is worse?<\/p>\n<p>Both companies are sacking staff for the same reason. In the words of Zuckerberg: \u201cTo become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4785324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/10\/10\/GettyImages-1236190685.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy wp-image-4785324\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/GettyImages-1236190685-600x380-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"405\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4785324\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/GettyImages-1236190685-600x380-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"405\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> In this illustration photo taken in Los Angeles on Oct. 28, 2021, a person watches on a smartphone Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveils the META logo. (Chris Delmas\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>Zuckerberg\u2019s company is facing competition from rising social media platforms. As a legacy entity with the largest customer base, Facebook has struggled to evolve its clunky structure while maintaining increased levels of censorship. It has plenty of users but rising dormancy which harms monetisation.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook (which now likes to identify as \u201cMeta\u201d) maintains 87,000 employees around the world. Every day, there are more stories about foreign teams being impacted by mass layoffs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did we get here?\u201d Zuckerberg\u2019s letter asks rhetorically.<\/p>\n<p>He goes on to blame COVID, a surge in e-commerce that \u201coutsized revenue growth,\u201d a failure to predict user behaviour, and disappointing ad revenue. In order to survive, Zuckerberg, just like Musk, has to thin the herd and invest wisely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint. We\u2019re restructuring teams to increase our efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Facebook is even revising its \u201cdesk-sharing\u201d policy. Things must be tough.<\/p>\n<h2>Silicon Valley in the Face of Competition<\/h2>\n<p>For those paying attention, the Golden Age of Tech has been crumbling for a while. Gone are the free lunches, smug salaries, and \u201cwork from the pool\u201d selfies. The monopoly of Silicon Valley is collapsing, and so too is its privileged position as a generous employer.<\/p>\n<p>Australia has already experienced this, with local tech companies who led the field 20 years ago gradually replaced by cheap labour in India and China.<\/p>\n<p>Why pay Australian developers $200 (US$133) an hour when some poor bloke will do it, in a different timezone for $2? It doesn\u2019t matter that the cheap work is sub-par\u2014it just has to be \u201cgood enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was inevitable that the discarded, talented developers would start making new products, creating a thriving and competitive technology market that has gradually eroded the supremacy of Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen to the world of social media.<\/p>\n<p>What began as a fun idea to connect people around the world and allow them to gossip in an uncontrolled spasm of noise has become a powerful political tool and corporate gold mine.<\/p>\n<p>Social media is the toy of politicians and CEOs. They flood these platforms with ads, pressure developers to censor anything that harms their MO, and mine the private data of users for re-sale on the commercial market.<\/p>\n<p>This is the first time in history that social entities like this have existed.<\/p>\n<p>Their future will depend on whether they are owned by CEOs who kowtow to the ambitions of predators, are overrun by government control, or if they are purchased by entrepreneurs who value the rancorous soul of discussion that gave them birth.<\/p>\n<p>Musk is the latter. Let\u2019s see if he survives.<\/p>\n<p><i>Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-alexandra-marshall\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Alexandra-Marshall-1.jpg\" alt=\"Alexandra Marshall\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Alexandra Marshall is the online editor for The Spectator Australia, contributor to various publications, political commentator on GB News and Sky News Australia. She is the Young Ambassador for Australians for Constitutional Monarchy and the English-Speaking Union, a political advisor, and a former AI database designer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CommentaryWhen billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk cleaned out 3,700 superfluous Millennials from his company, the internet went crazy. \u201cHow dare!\u201d shrieked the celebrities (who fancy themselves to be human rights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1739032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1739026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1739026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1739032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1739026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1739026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1739026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}