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Comment by hgtt664868 | Hacker News Reader

slashing worker protections would do what exactly?

Tbf it could reduce hiring friction and make it easier to take a chance on a riskier hire. Also makes it easier for workers to change jobs, notice periods here can be outright insane (3 months in some cases) and even as an employee I hated them.

Is a 6 month probationary period not good enough to take a chance?

Longest I’ve seen in NL is 2 months, and it’s usually one. It’s common to string multiple “temporary” contracts together though.

It still increases switching cost. As a worker with a permanent contract I have to weigh new opportunities against losing that. And it has real impacts! Getting a mortgage is harder on a temp contract (doable in NL, basically impossible in Ireland)

Six months is the default probationary period in Germany, I can't remember ever seeing a job without that.

Temporary contracts are also a thing here, but if there's no objective reason for the contract to be temporary it will end after max. two years. According to Verdi ~1/13 contracts are temporary - not great, but could be much worse.

This seems like companies will struggle to eliminate roles they no longer need if the person filling it has been around more than 2 years.

The two year limit doesn't apply if the company has an objective reason for making the role temporary, e.g. external dependencies.

It reduces risk for employers by piling it onto employees, who are also probably in a worse position to bear it.

Arguably this is the reason it should be borne by the government, not companies. This is one option https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexicurity

You pick it. From what I keep hearing, it's a cure-all. /s

free the "animal spirits"?

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