A Return to Meritocracy
The flood of Tech Layoffs could mean a reduction in Woke policies.
We’re seeing a lot of Tech companies having layoffs right now… and we’re likely to see that continue for a while.
As I wrote in “The Big Tech layoffs are just beginning” (over at The Lunduke Journal of Technology), there could be a number of benefits to this round of computer company layoffs.
One impact (which I didn’t discuss in that article) has potentially massive ramifications for all of us: It could signal a drastic reduction in woke staff at these companies… which could lead to fewer woke policies.
Meaning, the following are on the table:
Reduction in amplification of woke ideas
Reduction in censorship of Conservative voices
Hiring and promotion practices returning to a meritocracy
A return to the meritocracy
Many computer companies are looking at Twitter right now.
They’re seeing an example of a company that drastically trimmed the fat (roughly 50% of total staff) and not only managed to keep services running… but actually increased the rate of new feature roll-out.
That’s CEOs dream.
More features + Less Staff = More Profit.In order to replicate that success, a company must first identify which employees simply aren’t pulling their weight. Which employees don’t contribute — in real, practical ways — directly to the shipping, support, maintenance, and monetization of the product.
Keep the contributors. Lay off the rest.
It’s no surprise that the people who are — in general — the least effective at shipping software… are the same people who argue against the concept of meritocracy: the notion that rewards, position, and responsibilities should be based on effort, talent, and achievement.
The more “Woke” a person is, the more likely they are to advocate against using talent or achievement in hiring and promotions. In fact the concept of “Meritocracy” is deemed pure evil by the Woke.
Obviously such a Woke person would probably not be great at actually getting things done.
If you’ve been working in Big Tech companies for any length of time, you’ve noticed this direct correlation — between how woke a person is… and how bad they are at shipping software.
Here. I’ve made a hand-dandy chart.
Now. Imagine you are the CEO of a major software company, and you are looking to replicate the Twitter layoff experiment in your own company.
Even if you aren’t specifically trying to target “Woke” employees in those layoffs… the fact is you’re likely to hit a disproportionate number of “Woke” workers simply due to the reality of that chart above.
Which means, in the end, your company will have a lower percentage of employees with Left-leaning and “Woke” ideologies.
And, for the first time in several years, non-Woke employees will have a more even playing field for getting those jobs and promotions.
In essence, a return to a meritocracy. Or, at least, something much closer to it.
Which means less Woke policies
While the executives of a company set the tone — and steer the ship — the larger a company gets, the more control the employees have.
Which means that if you have a 90%+ Woke workforce, you end up with Woke, extremist policies. Twitter is a great example of this. The employees, often without involvement of the CEO, implemented numerous policies of censorship of those who opposed their Woke agendas.
Less Woke employees, means a (potential) reduction in Woke policies. Such as:
Less CRT training (and other forms of racism)
Less promoting of Woke ideas
Less censorship of Conservative ideas
All of this gives me a great cause for hope.
While I don’t expect that every company doing layoffs will suddenly shift to a more rational set of non-Woke policies… the reduction in staff necessitates at least a slight shift towards a meritocracy.
Which is certainly pointing us in the right direction.
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