For today’s essential Heretics 101 feature, former Meta HR leader Cynthia Bazlamit (Baz) Shrauner talks about demoting herself twice for fulfillment over title. She also describes Facebook’s pandemic hiring frenzy that ballooned teams 10x, the subsequent brutal layoffs, and the effect of DEI resource groups on the company.

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KEEP UP WITH BRYAN, NOLAN + KELLI ON LINKEDIN

Baz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-bazlamit-shrauner-683767/

Nolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/

Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/

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LINKS:

For coaching and advising inquire at https://kellidragovich.com/

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:17) Intro

(01:06) The First Demotion Story: Getting Demoted at Facebook

(05:17) The Second Demotion: Hiring Christine Ellis & Doing It Again

(10:00) “Comparison is the Thief of Joy” - The Ego Struggle

(11:00) Sponsor: Metaview

(12:59) Meta’s Pandemic Hiring Spree: “We Were Sloppy”

(15:44) The Layoffs: Three Waves of RIFs, 8,000+ Cuts

(19:42) DEI & Resource Groups: From Fun to Corporate Chaos

(24:00) Closing

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hrheretics.substack.com

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