Comment by ilc | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ilc | Hacker News Reader

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Here's the thing:

There is a massive asymmetry between what a company that can afford to do 1000's of trials at a time to get what they want, and an individual who really can't afford to be culled and lose 2-4 months looking for another position.

Also if you've ever dealt with temp->perm situations, people can change when they go perm. It is a real issue.

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As an employee: I usually can tell if a company is bad, I don't need to work there 2-3 months to learn that.

So for me there's little to no benefit, and massive downsides in that I don't have ANY real safety net to jump to the next "internship".

Maybe in Europe where they have stronger employee protection, and also better healthcare I'd consider it. But in the US, I'll take every protection you give me.

The norm in Sweden is that every position is "probationary" for the first six months, which then automatically converts to a permanent position. What it means is that the employer can terminate the employment without cause during the probationary period.

It's kind of a necessity in places with strong employee protection, otherwise companies would have an even harder time hiring. Now, companies can take a chance on someone without risking very much, so I think it's a good thing. Obviously, the companies have to pay new employees the same as the permanent ones and give them the same benefits, sick pay, PTO, etc.

The flipside is that some unscrupulous companies churn employees every six months to avoid having too many permanent full-time employees. Not common in the IT industry though.

I understand a similar system is in place in other places in Western Europe.

I have no issue with it. But in a situation where my healthcare, etc is all riding on my job, the stakes are a bit higher.

That's the issue in the US, IMHO. I suspect there would be more businesses started if the risk was lower. Yeah, YOLOing is hard, but it is harder when you know your healthcare, and everything else is on the line.

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