But I see most of my mbb friends working around the clock. Including ones at Bain.  
  
 Wlb gets worse post layoff?

Not really, pretty much the same levels (12-13 hours a day on average). But it has impacted how much flexibility we have in choosing a project, since there are such limited folks on bench now, staffing is very pushy on any project that comes up if you are available

Strategy & Operations

Growth Manager

Getting more information on what's happening at my company from Ken vs management 😂

Welcome to Consulting's Private Community

In early June, the smallest of the Big Three cut 15–20% of consulting jobs, as a crisis boiling since 2022 spilled over

Tiger Global’s downturn hits Bain India. One in every five consultants loses job

Ken reports on Bain layoffs

Ken reports on Bain layoffs- Grapevine

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

Was just reading The Ken’s article they posted today around what went behind Bain’s recent layoffs - made me think a lot. More so because I rejected my offer from Bain in college to go join a startup.

Bain is a titan in the consulting world, what made it stumble so hard in India? By now, all of us know Bain let go 15-20% of its workforce, a shocking move that reveals deep problems.

What went wrong?
1/ Putting all eggs in one basket: Bain's excessive dependence on Tiger Global (60-70% of PE consulting revenue) proved catastrophic when Tiger faltered. When Tiger faltered, Bain was left scrambling.
2/ Overconfidence led to overhiring: The 2022 hiring spree, nearly doubling B-school intake, reveals a dangerous disconnect between market realities and internal optimism. Now, with less work, those hires became a burden.
3/ Reputation at Risk: Layoffs may solve immediate financial woes, but the long-term damage to Bain's employer brand could prove costly in an industry that thrives on top talent.
4/ Others learn from Bain's mistakes: While Bain stumbled, rival BCG played it safer and is now in a stronger position.
5/ Growth isn't everything: Bain's fall shows that in consulting, steady relationships and smart hiring matter more than just getting bigger.

So thankful for not joining consulting post college 🙏🏼

Rejected my offer from Bain to join a startup 6 years ago - best decision in hindsight

Never believed consulting created any real business value. The model is itself self defeating. Great decision , joining startup !

Software Engineer

Investor

Welcome to Office Gossip's Private Community

Does such grapevine flow to employees from top management?

What are some early signs of a layoff happening at the company?

Product Manager

Today, all of a sudden, some folks got emails that they have been laid off. There is an uncertainty around the transparency of layoffs now. It was communicated org wide last March and November when then last 2 layoffs were conducted. This time, no-one seems to know how many people got impacted and who got impacted.

Some people at head/lead/senior positions have started voluntary leaving as well. Not sure if they are being asked to leave or if they are leaving themselves.

Hard to see these things happening in a company with an amazing work culture. :/

3rd round of layoffs at Gojek/GoTo

Work culture amazing ho ya tatti…. Jab waqt bura ho, lay-off sabka aata hai…. Kat ta sabka hai….

Quoting from The Ken (which btw I would highly recommend).

How many of you think this is true for Bangalore and problems that we are facing now with this generation.

+++++++++++++

Between 2020 and 2022, investors pumped billions of dollars into startups whose founders and leaders offered up the mythical “hypergrowth” narrative. Those startups, in turn, pumped money to hire and grow a layer of mid-level and senior-level executives whose job was to deliver on that hypergrowth narrative.

And salaries went through the roof. Hikes of 50% and above were par for the course.

Cut to the present.

If overvalued startups are widely recognised as a problem, can overvalued employees escape the same fate?

A CEO of a prominent company estimates that “in product and tech, 20-30% are in this category”. 



- Extract taken from Ken

Unhireable category of employees, how true is this?

CEO will always say employees are paid too much 
  
 Who exactly is recognising overvalued startups as a problem? Most are still trying to run the grift and were only hampered by interest rates lowering their runway. You can see how many are opening AI startups that have nothing to do with AI whatsoever, not to mention the number of Crypto / Web3 companies in our country. 
  
 Executive pay has always been the problem, take a look at any graph showing the skyrocketing ratio of Executive:Employee salary ratio, and for terrible decision making and management as a trend.

Support Engineer

Program Manager

trying to put together a list of best investigative journalists/publications and also trying to call out the ones who are propoganda machines for large unicorns

Which publication does the best investigative journalism on startups? and which publications have been bought by large unicorn startups?

1-on-1s getting scheduled by end of day, 3-month severance, just announced.

Swiggy lays off 380 in emergency townhall

More Layoffs.

Chartered Accountant

We got a round of funding in early 2022 and decided we hire aggressively. The new employees did not get adequate training and guidance. 

Till August 2022, 4 members of my team left and no one asked the manager why is this happenening. The remaining were just being loaded and loaded with work. 

From August, we went on a hiring freeze.

Then one more person left and things got serious, we were loaded with work.

In November, we had layoffs.
One team member quit voluntarily.

For a company that boasts its great culture, no one fucking asked the manager why so many people are leaving your team. The remaining are just waiting for a good opportuntiy to turn up.

And don’t get me started on the manager.

Complained to HRBP, no action. While our counterparts in the US are getting everything and everyone in need. 

Our all hands meets are about cost cutting, conservative appraisals and other bullshit while other teams are roaming the world and chilling. 

Just wanted to vent out.

Fed up with Chargebee

Dodged another bullet and survived another layoffs! But it's a total bloodbath and teams were ripped apart. Lost 5 team members including my manager!

It's not gonna be an easy path ahead. Things look pretty uncertain. Team shuffles, manager to IC conversion and new remit!

Meta Layoffs (Biz)

Facebook about to layoff till only zuck working alone 🤔😂

Analyst

Welcome to News Discussion's Private Community

Which one is a better use of my money? 
And is there a third alternative?

Morning context or Ken?

Please put down your opinions which one you like in terms of content, research, authenticity and to keep a tab on startup world
Any other options welcome too

The Ken vs TMC (or any other options)

Indian startup reporting has stooped to new lows. The Ken which I once thought had deep analysis has now become the ScoopWhoop of startup ecosystem.

Boys and girls, Simpl is laying heavy this week. Stay tuned for my rant post in some days

Also Dm if you can refer for sde jobs, thanks

Simpl Layoffs

Bruh they were hiring last week. DM me for referrals at Angel One. (Fully remote for SDEs)

I'll go first: "I want you to focus on doing good work and not on how much money you're making." Achchha aur mera rent kaun dega?

What's the dumbest thing your boss has said?

"2% is a good increment, considering the current environment"

Senior Software Engineer

Copywriter

https://the-ken.com/story/inside-flipkart-a-high-pressure-workplace-thanks-to-its-ipo-dreams-and-walmart/?utm_source=web&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=con_1_unit_3

In search of elusive IPO, the workplace situation at Flipkart is no less than a pressure cooker. Employees  complain about salary drought, insane targets, gruelling hours, and hanging layoff, Walmart pressure

McKinsey Layoff

Business Development Manager

Heard from people I know at Bain that they are laying off.
This is mostly the first time an MBB is doing layoffs (earlier they would silently fire, or delay onboarding) 

A friend got impacted. Seems like this could be 10-15% of their consultants. Unprecedented.

Layoffs at Bain India. At least 100+ people will be affected

When I think I should leave my job and start searching, Grapevine pops one of these scary items 😭

Consultant

Founder

Scathing attack on VCs from the Ken. What do you folks think about this ?

https://the-ken.com/the-nutgraf/how-vcs-killed-the-meaning-of-work/

Ken reports on Bain layoffs

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