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The tech industry is often cautious about tying layoffs to performance, even if it might play a role in who gets dismissed during widespread job cuts. But this year has signaled a noticeable shift in how some of the biggest players in tech approach layoffs: Earlier this year, Meta cut more than 3,000 employees in a move that the company framed as non-regrettable attrition. The number of Amazon employees on performance improvement plans reportedly surged in recent years, leading up to layoffsand Microsoft has allegedly cut thousands of employees who were classified as “low performers.” Now Microsoft is giving low performers the option to accept a payout and leave the company rather than being placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP), according to a new Business Insider report. Separation agreement or a PIP An internal email obtained by Business Insider outlined Microsoft’s new performance management system, which the company’s chief people officer described as having “clear expectations and a timeline for improvement.” For those who want to forgo performance management, Microsoft is reportedly offering a separation agreement that would be the equivalent of 16 weeks of pay. (Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment and also declined to comment in response to Business Insider’s inquiries.) Any Microsoft employees who are eligible for a buyout reportedly have five days to accept the offer; if they opt to get on a performance improvement plan instead, they forfeit the option to voluntarily resign and receive a payout at a later time. A previous Business Insider report also claimed that Microsoft is now barring low performers who leave the company or get terminated over performance issues from rejoining for at least two years. Shifting strategies for low performers Microsoft’s new strategy for managing low performers is not unheard of in the tech industry. Amazon uses a program called Pivot that presents similar options to employees who are deemed low performers, and Meta reportedly also employs a “block list” of former employees who should not be hired back by the company. But navigating performance-based layoffs can be tricky: At Meta, some employees who were affected by the recent job cuts claimed they had received high ratings on their performance reviews and expressed frustration over the fact that they were publicly characterized as low performers. (Meta did not comment on all such claims, but in response to one report, a company spokesperson said: “Simply because someone had a history of meeting or exceeding expectations, does not mean they continue to consistently meet the bar.”) It’s possible that some of these employees were impacted to meet the 5% quota Meta reportedly set for layoffs across departments, in spite of their performance reviews. Even otherwise, experts say relying solely on performance ratings to determine layoffs can put certain employees at a disadvantage, given the potential bias that is baked into the process. There is also quite a bit of variability across managers and departments, and in some cases employees may not have been performance-managed properly. At a moment when many tech companies are already facing employee dissent and low morale over culture issuesincluding strict return-to-office mandatesresorting to performance-based layoffs could also engender further mistrust.
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E-Commerce
Rare cosmic events can feel like being smiled down upon from up above. However, on the morning of April 25, an actual smiley face will appear in the skykind of. Venus, Saturn, and the moon will align in a pattern called a triple conjunction. Given the moon will be in its crescent form, the lineup will resemble a smiley face, but only for a short time on Friday morning. “Venus is higher above the eastern horizon with Saturn lower, and a thin, crescent moon a bit lower and a little farther north,” Brenda Culbertson, NASA solar system ambassador, told Kansas TV station KSNT. “The thin, crescent moon looks like a smile. To some people, the triangle of bright objects may appear as a smiley face.“ But that’s not all: Near the smiley face, two more planets, Mercury and Neptune, could also become visible to sky-watchers, in a rare alignment that’s been dubbed a “planet parade.” Here’s everything to know about the packed celestial event. When can I see the triple conjunction smiley face? Sky-watchers will need to wake extra early on Friday to catch the smirk in action. The event will take place at around 5:30 a.m. EDT, and smile down at the early morning risers for about an hour. “If you look toward the eastern horizon about an hour before sunrise, youll see the old crescent moon rising,” according to EarthSky. “Its just two days from reaching new moon phase, so it will be about 8% lit. You might also see the dark part of the moon gently glowing with earthshine, which is light reflected from Earth.” Are the smiley face and planet parade worth all the fuss? The smiley face won’t be perfectly configured, therefore, you’ll have to use your imagination just a bit, EarthSky says. The smiley face will be tilted on its side, with one eye (Venus) brighter than the other. But how often do the planets smile down at us? The alignment is extremely rareand given it will be viewable all over the world, the event may feel a bit like a celestial call for unity. Mercury and Neptune will be nearby, but the brightness of the triple conjunction will mean they’ll be tough to spot. What’s the next event for sky-watchers? If you can’t make it out of bed earlyeven for a glimpse at a cosmic grinthis spring will bring lots of other special celestial happenings. In early May, the Eta Aquarids meteor shower will reach its peak. NASA says that will be a smile-worthy sight, too. “Fast meteors can leave glowing ‘trains’ [incandescent bits of debris in the wake of the meteor] which last for several seconds to minutes,” the agency shared. “About 50 meteors can be seen per hour during the peak of the Eta Aquarids.”
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E-Commerce
It was only a matter of time: The official Trump store has just released a Trump 2028 hat, and it proves that the Presidents comments about running an unconstitutional third term were not an empty threat. The new hat appeared online today on President Trumps merch store. It retails for $50 and comes in classic MAGA red and white, with some added stars in a large sans serif font that takes up nearly the entire front face of the hat. The hat is yet another example of how Trump uses merch to walk an ultra fine line between joke and reality, leveraging products to both provoke his political opponents and normalize his dodgy behavior. By this point, Trump’s merch strategy has worked to desensitize many Americans to his more extreme commentsbut if Trumps past merch is anything to go by, its clear that while his messaging may seem lighthearted, it would be a mistake to take the Trump 2028 hat lightly. [Screenshot: Trump Store] Why Trump merch matters Merch has always been a crucial mode of messaging for Trump. In 2016, the bright red Make America Great Again trucker hat was practically unavoidable. According to a report from Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, the hats were pulling in up to $80,000 a day during the campaign. But when the red MAGA hat first debuted in 2015, no one was taking it seriously. As Fast Company has previously reported, the New York Times style section disregarded it as an ironic summer accessory in September 2015. When the Trump campaign revealed that it had spent $3.2 million on the hats, Esquire wrote that they may well go down as the Trump campaigns only lasting contribution to the political history of the Republic. Today, though, it would be difficult to find anyone who would argue that the MAGA hat is merely ironic. Its become a universally recognized symbol of Trumps ideologya form of public resistance for some, and, for many others, a propaganda-laden shorthand for intolerance. Since 2016, Trumps merch strategy has become a bit more layered, but no less on the nose. His store has expanded with dozens of hat options, including one recent iteration which read, Trump was right about everything. During the 2024 campaign, he turned a visit to a McDonalds into a T-shirt. The merch even when meta, when a surrealist hat design featured a tiny image of a MAGA hat printed onto another hat. And, in December of this year, Trump also turned the suit that he wore during his mugshot (taken before he was found guilty on 34 felony counts) into purchasable NFTs, as well as a $25 mug and $36 shirt. He further glorified the mugshot on rally posters and even in his official presidential portrait, which now hangs in the White House. Products like the surrealist hat-on-a-hat might seem like offhand jokes, but Trumps merch strategy is clearly also a powerful political tool. The endless stream of products keeps Trumps message front and center both IRL and online. And, by merch-ifying moments like Trumps mugshot, his campaign reframes, and even legitimizes potentially damaging moments to followers while desensitizing everyone else. Trump’s plan to hard-launch a potential third term Trump has been talking about running for a third term for months, initially by floating the idea as what seemed like a joke. At a speech before the Congressional Institute in January, the President said, I think Im not allowed to run again. Im not sure. Am I allowed to run again, Mike [Johnson]? I better not get you involved in that argument. Since then, hes repeatedly doubled down on the idea. In late March, Trump told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker that a lot of people wanted him to serve a third term, and that there were methods to skirt around the two-term limit established in the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution. He even added that he was not joking about the idea, for good measure. Per the 22nd Amendment, no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twiceand its unclear to experts what methods Trump has in mind to get around the unambiguous limit. But what is clear, based on the Presidents new merch launch, is that hes now outfitting his own followers in his campaign for an illegal third term. And if theres anything we shouldve learned from Trumps past merch strategy, its that we need to take him at his hat.
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E-Commerce
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