Under the pressure, Silicon Valley is moving towards overtime working.
After 10:30, Chen Qi picked up the coffee at the table and took a sip. Due to the recent flu attack, Chen Qi felt dizzy, but other people in the group were still working, so he couldn't just log off. Ever since Meta laid off employees last time, Chen Qi felt that there seemed to be an invisible pressure flowing within the company.
Although the company's management did not vigorously encourage employees to work hard, the insecurity brought about by the last wave of layoffs made everyone nervous, and they were vaguely worried that the next wave of layoffs would come soon, and they would become one of them.
Originally, Meta used to be regarded as an "overtime factory" in Silicon Valley, but recently the rhythm has become significantly more tense. In order to make their performance evaluation at the end of the year better, even if the holiday season is approaching, the employees dare not relax at all. In fact, in the current turbulent industry environment, not only Meta, but also the atmosphere of many Silicon Valley technology companies are quietly changing. A workplace culture called "Hardcore" began to spread in the Silicon Valley technology field where "quiet quitting" was popular in the past, and it is gradually affecting the lives of professionals in Silicon Valley.
"Hardcore or leave", either "hardcore" or leave. This word, which comes from Musk’s internal letter to Twitter employees, represents a more intense working state than paying attention to “WLB” (work-life balance). Obviously, the rise of Hardcore in Silicon Valley is not what many employees who are used to their previous working conditions would like to see.
However, from another perspective, is the "golden age" that Silicon Valley programmers have had in the past few years, in fact, just an illusion under the bubble expansion, and it can't last long? "Hardcore" culture, starting from Twitter There are more and more debates about whether Hardcore is challenging the innovation ecology for Silicon Valley or carrying out an efficiency reform.
Although a small number of Silicon Valley technology companies also had overtime work before Twitter's layoffs, in the past, overtime work and involution were definitely not a common phenomenon in Silicon Valley. Except for the word "wolf nature" that is occasionally seen, there is no word to specifically describe the workplace pressure in Silicon Valley. The common ones are freedom, flexibility, and so on.
But now, Musk has made a head start. After Twitter’s big layoffs, the “surviving” employees received an email from the new leader about “Hardcore or leave” before they could take a breather from the chaos of the layoffs. Musk’s email to all employees. Musk’s Hardcore starts with himself.
Not only does he work 120 hours a week and sleep in the office for several days, even the email is sent to all employees on time at 12 o’clock in the middle of the night.
