Ramona is a Chief People & Belonging Officer at a company that truly cares. She believes that culture isn't something you say—it's something you build, live, and evolve.

When she's not pioneering new models of work where humans and AI thrive in sync, she writes letters. About difficult decisions. About the invisible labor of caring deeply. About what it really means to scale with humanity.

This is her column.

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I'm writing this from my home office in a city with 300 days of sunshine, since I've been unable to sleep after the events of last week. I realize now that some of you may have misunderstood our intentions, so I'd like to take this opportunity to clear up any lingering doubts.

First, I want to state that leadership cares deeply—deeply—about every single one of you. In fact, the decision to deactivate your accounts that morning, just days before the holidays, was made entirely with your wellbeing in mind.

Some of the employees used to call me "La Madre" because of how much I cared. One engineer even got it tattooed, though he later said it was for his actual mother. Either way, I was honored.

You see, I believe culture isn't something you say. It's something you build, live, and evolve. And sometimes evolving means helping people find new opportunities to thrive—quickly, decisively, and without the burden of prolonged goodbyes.

Some have asked why we didn't provide advance notice. The answer is simple: clarity beats certainty, and courage beats process. Had we told you earlier, you might have spent your final weeks anxious and distracted. Instead, you got to enjoy a perfectly normal evening with your families, blissfully unaware. That's a gift. Feedback is also a gift, even when it stings—though in this case, we felt the feedback would sting less if delivered all at once, by email, with documents attached.

I also want to address the timing. Yes, it was the week before Christmas. But the holidays are about family, and what better present could we give you than more time with yours? Many of you had mentioned wanting better work-life balance. Consider this wish granted.

The severance package reflects our commitment to dignity over efficiency. Our lawyers worked very hard on those documents. You'll notice we even wished you well in the signature block.

For those asking about the all-hands meeting where leadership said "we're not just colleagues, we're family"—I want to clarify that this was taken out of context. Like family, sometimes we make difficult decisions for each other's own good. And like family, sometimes you don't find out until it's already done.

At our last all-hands, I led a guided meditation on "letting go." In hindsight, this was perhaps too on the nose.

I've heard some felt blindsided. But I want you to know: this was hard for me too. I found out about this decision just days before you did, which barely gave me time to finalize our "Happy Holidays, From Our Families to Yours" message from the People team.

Speaking of which—some have pointed out that I still have my job. This is true. Someone needs to stay behind to shepherd the remaining team through this period of renewal. That someone is me. I carry this burden with patience, courage, and real emotional stamina.

I personally shadow our engineers regularly. Not to monitor them—to understand their humanity. Just last month I spent an entire afternoon watching someone debug a search function. I learned so much about resilience that day. He cried. I cried. We both grew.

To my wonderful, caring, incredibly talented colleagues who remain: I see you. ✨

Each sparkle emoji is intentional.

And to those who've transitioned: you're all doing well now, I assume.

With warmth, intentionality, and humanity,

Ramona Chief People & Belonging Officer "Building cultures where talent thrives"