> In an ideal world, we’d simply shift people from one team to another. And we’ve done that wherever possible. However, our next stage of growth requires a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI and early-stage product development. We’ve been bringing in great talent in these areas over the last couple years and we'll need even more.<p>Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatgpt released, and then laying off 16% of your company to.. use ai to store files better? I really don’t see how new ai capabilities lead to big layoffs and new opportunities for Dropbox.
Nice, round number. I wonder if that was a carefully thought out coincidence, or they fiddled with the numbers a bit until they got the right payroll savings then rounded it to the nearest 100. I suspect the latter - when I see a nice, round number of people being fired it makes me think that they decided "how many people do we need to sacrifice to appease the finance gods" rather than "how many of these roles are really needed to achieve the goals we set ourselves".<p>Anyway, good luck to the former Dropboxers, I hope they land on their feet.
So hopeful. People are so hopeful that AI will pan out favorably for them, even when their arguments are a stretch.<p>On this thread, there’s the following sentiment… “Dropbox has access to your data so they are well positioned to do some AI stuff on your data.” But also you have your data so you could work with really any party you want, and Dropbox has few advantages by being an existing custodian. Custodian status probably is not the differentiating factor in a race to build AI tools.<p>AI optimism. I just don’t see the argument. I don’t see how it is good for Dropbox, or the enthusiastic pundits, or even me! (I use the tools, too, but my income and quality of life have not skyrocketed.) My suspicion is that things like Dropbox laying off 16% becoming part of the AI optimism narrative – and AI optimism in general – has little to do with the prospects of AI and much to do with the reactive patterns of opinionated storytellers.<p>Specifically, I think people enthusiastic about AI prospects are enthusiastic because it is the one empowering (encouraging) response they can take… not because it is warranted. That’s not criticism, just an exploration, and I’m well-aware that I could be wrong.<p>This is a layoff announcement. We shouldn’t expect any AI realism from it.
"These transitions are never easy, but I’m determined to ensure that Dropbox is at the forefront of the AI era, just as we were at the forefront of the shift to mobile and the cloud. We’ll need all hands on deck as machine intelligence gives us the tools to reimagine our existing businesses and invent new ones. And I'm committed to doing everything in my power to best position ourselves for the future and unlock our full potential."<p>What has AI got to do with me putting my files in the cloud so I can sync them across my devices?
I recently migrated from Dropbox to Google One. I find Dropbox's personal pricing really baffling: you get 2 GB for free or have to move all the way up to 2 TB and pay £100 a year. 100GB for £16 via Google is a much more sensible offer.
Condolences to the affected Dropboxers. I think the silver lining for all of you is that amidst this turmoil, you're well positioned just by having Dropbox on your resume.<p>As someone laid off 2 weeks ago from a company with much less notoriety, I cringe at the idea of having to now compete with 500 of you.<p>Good luck out there.
> You'll also have some time TODAY AND TOMORROW to wrap up and say goodbye to colleagues.<p>As an European, I don't think I will ever get used to the fact that in the US people can be told "go home, you're fired" like that, effective immediately.
Over time I've switched from Dropbox to Google Drive to iCloud as my primary way of storing files I want backed up and/or able to be shared.<p>Replacing the Dropbox client with Maestral <a href="https://maestral.app" rel="nofollow">https://maestral.app</a> meant a much happier system with a lighter application running. Also no prompts for the SD card to be uploaded.<p>When Dropbox limited an account to 3 devices, it made sense to use Google Drive more.<p>Google kept changing the naming and functionality of its client. The final blow, though, is the way that they insist on showing a screen of files instead of the folders that were carefully created.<p>A lot of people don't use folders very much or at all and that's definitely the trend. But it means that all the work somebody does in organizing their files is thrown out the window.<p>Google Drive seems like it's more and more forcing people into having a Google Account even if they use a hotmail or yahoo email address.<p>iCloud with a family subscription means that a family of 5 can have all of their devices and files backed up for $10/month. BackBlaze for laptops and desktops is $7/month these days so $10/month seems like a reasonable deal.<p>Dropbox decided that the business world was their market and that's reasonable.<p>For individuals, there still seems to be a market for file serving with no ads, good security and easy access for people regardless of their email domain. Say sharing photos from a family trip or the soccer games your kid played in.
The AI thing is transparently a fake excuse that will pass the sniff test for their finance department.<p>Also, what were these 500 people doing anyway? Dropbox has basically been the same product for years.
<a href="https://jobs.dropbox.com/listing/4987352" rel="nofollow">https://jobs.dropbox.com/listing/4987352</a><p>>Role Description
We are looking for a technical leader to help shape the Machine Learning agenda for Dropbox’s new initiatives. This will involve developing high impact ML solutions that touch hundreds of millions of people and a <i>lot</i> of data. From images to documents in every language, using the full range of Machine Learning techniques from deep learning, interacting with modern LLMs (natural language), computer vision, etc. and executing everywhere from mobile devices to large clusters on our back-end infrastructure.<p>They pretty much don't know what they don't know and are looking for someone to build it for them.<p>If I had to hazard a guess at the strategy, they are looking to build an in-house multi-modal model to power enterprise search.
While there's "full ownership" meme but at least they make things clear:<p>* How many are going to be fired.<p>* When will employee know they are fired.<p>* Severance package.<p>No amount of thought and prayer are going to help, straight to the point.
"As the world moved from physical film to digital photography, or from land lines to wireless communication, or from DVD rentals to streaming, opportunity and disruption went hand-in-hand. Companies that embraced a new reality and took decisive action did well. Companies that held onto the past or tried to have it all did not.<p>These transitions are never easy, but I’m determined to ensure that Dropbox is at the forefront of the AI era, just as we were at the forefront of the shift to mobile and the cloud"<p>Key takeaway, CEO thinks shift to AI is as consequential to his business as the shift from landlines to cell phones Et al.
Drew Houston needs to step down. The company has been aimless for a decade. The 'collaborative workspace' was an obviously bad idea that they sunk years of company-wide resources on (ask me how I know!)
Anyone know why the ~15% number keeps showing up in recent layoffs?<p>The startup I was at recently laid of 15%. I'm pretty sure it wasn't for (public) optics, because the layoff didn't get any press coverage.<p>And based on the startup's business, I very much doubt the layoff was triggered by ChatGPT's success.<p>My best guess would be behind-the-scenes VC strategizing, but this is happening even with publicly traded companies like DropBox.
Why is a digital storage company moving into AI? Personally haven’t used them for at least 5-6 years so I am out of the loop there.<p>Seems like a poor excuse to cut people.
I'd love pay Dropbox money and let them keep their workforce hired.
I've used their free service for years, and WANT to sign up for a plan and pay them something, but their paid plan options are silly, I have 4GB for free, their starting paid plan is 2TB for $12CND... that's a big leap and way more storage than I need. I'd be happy with 100GB plan, or a 500GB (1/4 the size of their starting 2000GB plan), for $3 would be more storage than I need, and a much more enticing reason to sign up.<p>I've brought this up before to their support team. But I guess they aren't interested in small fish accounts and only want 2TB whales signing up.
It surprises me that Dropbox has more than 500 employees at all... that's a lot of people for a product that does one thing well that hasn't substantially changed in years...<p>To be clear: I'm a fan. Just sincerely don't know the benefit of what could be a very targeted and strategic company in having so much staff.
They gave the employees who were let go the opportunity to clean things up and talk to their coworkers. It's weird how in this age that's considered shocking, but kudos to Dropbox for at least doing it the right way.
CEO says AI casualties<p>Would anybody else be content with mass layoff messages in JSON format? { severance, healthcare, perks }<p>I’m okay without the explanations or attempt at empathy thats partially designed for other stakeholders like vendors who want to know the company is healthy<p>Just take the media L and move on, I bet there are people that would like them for that approach and attract talent. Its pretty insufferable to be around employees that actually like the “family” coddling talk so if they’re not there to begin with then its a better work environment
As with other announcements, I'd like to know the job function breakdown. How much of this is sales, marketing, etc. Specifically I want to know how many were software developers.
Have other companies been blaming the potentials of AI as a reason for the layoffs? GPT is impressive but it seems pretty early to cut 15% of your workforce because of it.
There's something a bit discordant about using the Dropbox font to convey this message.<p>Feels a bit like having an illustrator create a corporate Memphis graphic of a layoff.
Bummer, I always enjoyed reading about their engineering culture. Seems like a nice place to work.<p>Hopefully they'll figure this out and rebound from their predicament.
About the AI thing (assuming it's true and not merely a convenient excuse for layoffs):<p>Is every company just planning to feed all of their customer data through GPT / OpenAI, or will they build their own AIs? The first choice seems risky, from a business, legal and privacy perspective. The second one would require a large amount of capital and has many other risks.
>> “ We’ve believed for many years that AI will give us new superpowers and completely transform knowledge work”<p>I’ve speculated that this is the rationale behind some of the recent layoffs. Finally we get some confirmation.<p>As a heavy OpenAI user, I think it is a premature optimization.
Ugh, cant he just come out and say he feels the company is better off without them? Why does it always need to be a difficult decision.<p>Literally every company is doing the same right now. It seems like the decision was quite simple.
So much bitterness and resentment around layoffs. Why? It's not personal, it's just business. Everyone got paid great money to do easy work, and the world is still full of opportunity.
> In some areas, investments that showed promise before the downturn have more limited potential today.<p>Which areas? Which employment category are they cutting? Hard to tell from the message.
I guess things like dropbox passwords are going to get even less attention now. That’s a pity because I actually like it and think it has a lot of potential.
What I'm really shocked by is that Dropbox had 3000 employees! I'd have guessed the number to be between 500-1000. It's not that they come up with new products/features at a fast pace. What do 3000 people do there?
I stopped using dropbox once condi rice took the lead... if there isnt a more telling projection of cointelpro as appointing condi fn rice as head of your data harvesting/mining company, the only other person least trustworthy would be the big dick cheney. Ill never use dropbox again, they cannot be trusted.