Frankly - Its happened before, and while we hope it won't happen again, it could. That's not counting the realignment.
Each time, it feels like we're a little diminished, and that the community is a little bit less than it was, like we lost an essential part of who we are.
The critical test isn't just how the company and company weathers the storms - but in shoring things up.
We've basically seeing Talent go boom and bust more than once. While its been pushed as the great hope for revenue - I'm kind of unsure what's a unique value preposition in a really crowded market, and its possible customers might feel so too. The only value is in the Stack Overflow name I guess, but I'd suspect that pretty much everyone has their own equivilent on that front.
As far as furlough's go - it may be better than getting fired, but its still probably a pain.
As someone who was let go from what felt like a perfect job - it sucks, and I feel that its probably essential to work out what's a sustainable way for the business units that're supposed to fuel the company's growth to be run. Shedding staff every so often when things are bad is not a great way to go. On the long term - maybe it should be a goal to avoid that, even in bad times. So I guess - I'd ask, is Careers/Talent sustainable, and least internally suggest maybe its worth examining why its failed to live up to expectations more than once in the company's history.
All storms pass. The question isn't just "how do we weather the storm?" but rather to understand where things went wrong - and try to do right by the community - both of users and of the folks working to ensure the business runs and grows.
I also do hope that in trying to trim things in lean times (I'd hardly call it fat at this time), that the good work that's gone on lately dosen't take a back seat. In trying to get back in touch with the community, in new features (Following posts - was pretty much a polished version of my first feature request , and somehow Lisa listened to my 3 am ramblings (and others) and turned a feature I hated (tag synonyms) into something I use. ) it's been a decent start at rebuilding things.
While I guess its good to go "We're doing ok! Honest?" We've... heard that a lot. That more resources were just around the corner, when things work out.
One can go through a problem, one can go around it, or one can get ready, and laugh at it mockingly, standing tall. Can we be the last next time?