In your opinion what is the proper way to do a layoff? Or if any layoff is a problem, how do you prevent companies from hiring too quickly or whatever?
The best and brightest will start looking for greener grass the second the first layoff round hits, no matter what.
Companies that offload the risk of bad management decisions to employees instead of investors are not any employee's friend.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/11/techs-new-business-model-do-...
My dad was in a different field and when the company he worked for did layoffs the company was in a serious financial state and in danger of just folding entirely and also the employees had a say in how layoffs were implemented. Until I started working in tech I had assumed that was the norm but now I realize that that amount of respect for the employees from leadership was the exception (at least at large companies).
If the company begins to sink, so be it, the whole family goes down together (or flee as they see fit).
It would make a company hesitant to hire — they would have to think very long term making a decision like that. Perhaps companies would train (re-train) their employees if the jobs or company evolve.
Interesting though that, in the U.S. at least, the relationship we have with our employer is perhaps 180 degrees from that of the relationship we have with our family. That seems a little sad.
(Reminded suddenly of Tim's speech at the end of The Office (U.K.) — pass me a hanky. https://youtu.be/5AlZ-ZYbbPU)
Maybe it wouldn't even be a loophole: everyone would just have to actually go freelance and have no employee protections.
I wonder if any country has anything close to layoffs being illegal and how that went.
Works fine for France, it's very hard to do layoffs there, to the point that a common myth is that they're illegal there. 7th largest GDP. Unemployment rate is at 7% (about 2x the USA), but it's also not the existential risk it is in the US - you are given 75% of whatever your pay was for up to 2-3 years.
> Massive incentive to do whatever you can to only use contractors or whatever. Somehow classify your employees as self employed, something like that.
Going back to France, they'll fine the hell out of a company that did that. Misclassifying your employees to abuse the system is enforced there.
As an American, I am extremely jealous of France's employee protections. Even the most leftist states like CA pale in comparison to the protections the French have.
Salaries are low, unemployment was high for a long time (and still is, especially for the youth), companies make massive use of contractors (via big consulting companies) and getting a permanent contract is very difficult (without which getting a mortgage is pretty much impossible).
Once you have your permanent contract, it's fine, but for newcomers to the job market, it's hell.
This isn't relevant when we're talking about individual welfare. France is 23rd for nominal GDP per capita and 26th for PPP.
Which is still good! A lot of the countries near the top are petrostates or tax havens. But not the US.
If it were mandated, but somehow nothing else changed, then it would be unattractive to hire. If other things also changed, not necessarily.