I mean...really??

[Mandy Carbenell]

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020

Linden Lab CEO Confirms New Round Of Layoffs; Cuts Include Kona Linden, Company's Last Link To Second Life's Glory Days

Pictured:  With Kona Gurion & his dog Moxie at Linden Lab in 2008; inset, Discord announcement from Linden's current CEO from yesterday 

Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg yesterday posted on the official Discord channel for Sansar, the company's new social platform, confirming reports (from virtual world blogger Ryan Schultz) of a new round of layoffs, but denying rumors that Sansar itself was closing:

So, I’m only going to say this tonight as it’s late. We can pick up the conversation in the following days. Yes, there were layoffs today. A truly wonderful group of people. But as you can see Sansar is up and running. We are still in discussion about next steps. Including with the wonderful group of people. More to come. Don’t give up yet. Go create and have fun. Not much point in speculating until we can tell you more.

Among the layoffs, I am sad to personally confirm, is Kona Gurion (Kona Linden in SL), who was a member of Linden Lab's QA team for Second Life for 16 years. I knew him even before that, during my own time as Linden Lab's embedded reporter in SL, when Kona was among Second Life's first talented, passionate early adopters. With his layoff, Linden Lab loses its last known link to Second Life during its founding, and glory days of 2006-2008.

This new round of layoffs comes only 3 months after another round of Sansar-related layoffs, when the platform was reportedly operating with just a skeleton crew.  

I have reached out to Linden Lab for an official statement and will update this post when and if I get a reply.  

[Jackson Redstar]

funny how when companies make rounds of layoffs, they always say everything is going great! we are just "right sizing"  In todays world, the captain can have the water up to his knees on the sinking ship, all the while smiling and saying "nothing to see here! everything is fine! carry on!"

Edited February 14, 2020 by Jackson Redstar

[Alyona Su]

1 hour ago, Jackson Redstar said:

funny how when companies make rounds of layoffs, they always say everything is going great! we are just "right sizing"  In todays world, the captain can have the water up to his knees on the sinking ship, all the while smiling and saying "nothing to see here! everything is fine! carry on!"

I'll go ahead and presume that you've never run a company. FYI: Employees are a liability. Furthermore, government overreach causes them to cost a lot more. Fastest way to efficiently maintain profits is to cut costs where feasible and the larger the company the more unnecessary costs there are. I am not defending Linden Lab, I'm simply stating the facts of business life.

[Ardy Lay]

1 hour ago, Jackson Redstar said:

funny how when companies make rounds of layoffs, they always say everything is going great! we are just "right sizing"  In todays world, the captain can have the water up to his knees on the sinking ship, all the while smiling and saying "nothing to see here! everything is fine! carry on!"

You forgot about the captain telling the band to keep playing while everyone else is struggling to get to the life boats.

[Jackson Redstar]

On 2/14/2020 at 7:36 AM, Alyona Su said:

I'll go ahead and presume that you've never run a company. FYI: Employees are a liability. Furthermore, government overreach causes them to cost a lot more. Fastest way to efficiently maintain profits is to cut costs where feasible and the larger the company the more unnecessary costs there are. I am not defending Linden Lab, I'm simply stating the facts of business life.

you can also remove weight from a car by removing its wheels, too. Some cuts are always needed, redundancy, project ending, etc.. But when the co is struggling to make a profit, and revenue isn't enough to keep operations going, cutting employees is a sure sign if a few holes in the ship