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Comment by sitkack | Hacker News Reader

So effectively contractors. Companies shouldn't be allowed to "shed" this much of their workforce in a system like the US's here we have a very poor safety net.

They bulked up, built their products and now want to slim down and enjoy their profits at the expense of these sacrificial workers.

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Your safety net is spend less than you make which should be easy for tech workers who even for your CRUD developers can easily make twice the median household wage.

> at the expense of these sacrificial workers

Were they not paid during their employment? Not to mention everything they are doing for those exiting employees (average five months of severance including healthcare, 2 months of career placement services, etc)

One alternative is never hiring them in the first place, which is a real possibility if some bad ideas like yours were put into law.

Businesses should be more responsible in hiring not just for the good of the workers but for the company as well. Hiring 17% more than you should’ve means there was a ton of waste. Rather than seeing this as a sign of prudence like most investors might, I see this as a reflection of poor planning.

Literally no business works likes this. Every team and hire is a risk, and the market understands this. You don't have the information to say if there was "waste" and even if there was, so what?

But "poor planning" is inevitable in business. It cannot be completely avoided or accounted for. What should a business do that has planned poorly if it needs to cut costs?

Realistically they would have a permanent contract at a company that contracts out developers.

Flexibility (at the cost of a premium) for the client company, safe for the employee.

Sidestepping the issue of the US's labour laws, I almost feel like this is what a healthy software industry should look like.

You go in, you build, and when the job is done, you leave.

We just haven't figured out how to get the job done yet.

If only employers are capable of communicating that expection to prospective employes in an honest manner instead of doing the whole "we are a family" gaslighting act.

If any tech worker is more than two years out of school and is naive enough to believe that and are not always prepared to change jobs, I have no sympathy for them

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