Big Tech pivots from the carrot to the stick

Marketplace Tech

American Public Media

Technology, News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Big Tech firms like Microsoft, Meta and Google are using stricter performance reviews to bring up productivity and weed out low performing workers. It’s a noticeable pivot away from the perks that defined Silicon Valley work culture a decade ago. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Alistair Barr, author of the Business Insider Tech Memo Newsletter, about their recent coverage of this latest shift.

Transcript

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1:31.8	It sure seems like the old system of Rank and Yank is back in the tech world. From American
1:38.6	Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. I'm Megan McCarty-Karino.
1:56.7	After a decade-plus, when it seemed like tech companies couldn't hire fast enough,
2:03.2	many have been getting leaner in recent years, and you could say meaner. As firms like Microsoft,
2:10.0	meta, and Google pivot resources to AI, they've made cuts in other areas. And according to a series of recent reports from Business Insider, they've instituted stricter performance reviews.
2:15.9	So workers ranked lower could be at risk of getting yanked,
2:20.2	according to Alistair Barr, author of the Business Insider Tech Memo newsletter.
2:25.3	Performance reviews are pretty common in the tech industry, but they've gotten a lot tougher
	...

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