I agree with Jeffrey Zeldman in that I’m also surprised that George Oates was laid off from Yahoo and her work with Flickr. I also thought that George’s recounting of how she found out she was laid off was telling, and sad.
Once upon a time, Yahoo was the bright and shiny future. Once upon a time, Flickr was one of the most dazzling of the new breed of startups. The success of both was based less on equipment and technology, and more on the people who helped create both companies. How Yahoo treats the people it has let go, is a measure of what the company thinks of itself. Evidently, those still in management in Yahoo, and at Flickr, don’t have a high opinion of themselves.
(An earlier interview with George. More on the layoffs.)