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Comment by tyingq | Hacker News Reader

Interesting. A company like ThoughtWorks doesn't seem to fit the typical private equity playbook. Assuming that most of the employees, for example, are assigned to consulting gigs at customer sites...you can't just start laying people off. What would drastic cost cutting look like at ThoughtWorks?

Edit: Or maybe there are a lot of people "on the bench" or middle management is overstaffed?

This discussion might be enlightening: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12458683

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The longer I'm in this bizz, the more I've come to believe that consulting services, be it Tata, Infosys, Microsoft, IBM, all the way down to boutique mom and pop shops, is the most efficient means to extract wealth from large companies. No products, just putting butts in seats. One of the richest guys local to my location sold a "network security" consultancy some years ago, for example.

It's not just IT, these body shops take their cut from just about every industry. Building, cleaning, plumbing, most industries have these parasites between the consumer and the worker these days.

The cuttings will continue to happen (there has been a lot of layoffs) on the operational team, with downsizing and cost-cutting. Fewer travels, less expensive hotels, and luxurious meals. Also, the 'social justice' projects are already halted.

> the 'social justice' projects are already halted

When did that happen? Was it done to make the company more attractive to buyers, to protect profits, or for idealistic reasons?

They were moved into their own organizations separate from TW.

They were and then those were disbanded a few months ago, presumably in preparation for this deal.

Doesn't match what I'm seeing first hand: I know people who are working on one of those organizations and it's operating normally.

Operational cost. TW was hurting for money and couldn't afford it anymore.

ouuuuuuch. I'd interviewed there and had to pull out of their (lengthy) process, but this was one of their selling points that was mentioned by the recruiter and interviewers.

Carlos I'm really surprised to see you propagating fiction under your actual name. This shit straight up didn't happen, there are still social justice projects actively going on.

Howdy; I remember seeing something about them being halted indefinitely, and they seemed to be halted when I was on my way out. I don't think it's bullshit based on what I saw but I could be wrong; do you have counterclaims to prove otherwise?

There are some moments when I accidentally speak too soon; this was one of them. I was incorrect re: "TW was hurting for money and couldn't afford it anymore."

I didn't have all of my facts straight when I posted this and should have thought more carefully before I did so.

Apologies to anyone I might have offended by posting this. If you'd like to talk more directly about this, feel free to email me at any time. My email address is in my profile.

>fewer travels, less expensive hotels, and luxurious meals.

Doesn't the customer typically pay all these costs for a consultant anyway?

They do, but it reduces your profit...

The customer pays them. And the customer pays the markup on them. And it should generate positive net revenue unless something is done wrong, and I doubt that Thoughtworks is doing it wrong.

Eats at your margins if expenses go over holdback, or the percentage of the sale dedicated to travel.

> This discussion might be enlightening: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12458683

Take these comments with a grain of salt. If anyone is going through a PE buyout and is nervous about expectations, feel free to reach out to me...I work with a lot of PE firms on tech deal and know the drill.

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