Most people (who don't own things like factories) need a regular, predictable, stable income to survive, and finding new employment is not always easy.

Therefore, people in most developed countries have agreed that by taking on an employee, it is contingent on the employer to provide some guarantee of stability. This is borne out by laws restricting firing in many cases, and requiring severance pay in the event.

The USA is an aberration in this regard - even the workers seem to value the rights of the employers far above the rights of the employees. I'm not sure why this is.

I live in the UK. Here the obligation is symmetric. All my recent work has been on 90 day terms. That is, if either I or the employer wish the contract to end normally that requires 90 days of notice unless both parties agree otherwise.

My most recent employer decided their costs were too high compared to projected income, so they gave me 90 days notice back in 2019.

At that point I knew that in 90 days I won't have a job. I could start looking for a new job, able to tell any prospective employer that I can start on day D+90. I would still get paid, as usual, and my employer was entitled to insist that I continue to work as usual.

In fact of course they gave me garden leave, I guess that's probably an alien term in the US too? Garden leave means that the 90 day term still applies, you still work for them not anybody else, and they still pay you fully - but your employer thinks it would be best (for example because they're scared you will sabotage things, poach customers, or steal trade secrets) that you do not come to the office or use their computers and thus you cannot do your job.

I'm very awkward so I pointed out that they're short of cash, rather than having too many engineers, and so since I wasn't doing anything else I kept working, although I will admit I wasn't exactly the most motivated team member since I knew I was terminated. They had to go re-enable my git access, AWS access and so on, which had been severed when I went in to be told I was fired. Very amusing.

Now, let's roll back to my previous job. I'd been essentially head-hunted, I informed that employer that I'd be leaving, triggering the 90 day notice. I was actually at their offices at the time, (I usually work from home) and I informed them that I'd be available until close-of-play to negotiate the exact details. They got right down to the wire but eventually sent someone to work it out, and we agreed I would spend the notice period spinning up people who'd been brought in to learn what I do, and that I wouldn't take my vacation days, but I would actually leave on D+85 not D+90.

Why is it a good idea?

Employees less likely to leave without notice.

Employees stay longer because the safety net grows.

Less likely to speak poorly about you after leaving

More secure in their job. More emotional invested.

What are your reasons for not? Even if google stops selling at home they will keep the server alive for a grace period.

I had a friend who ran a bitcoin market. When the market shutdown he was responsible for customer records for 7 years and had to pay a company to secure access in case of requests.

You may have bought raw materials, hired people, set up a warehouse and stocked it with products anticipating my orders, but I don't understand why I should be obligated to pay for your products if I no longer need them.

All contracts generally include terms for termination of the contract. The tone of indignation is in the US, employers determine them unilaterally and employees don't have the bargaining power to do anything about it.

I would imagine if a director breaks the law, only then he could be personally liable. And in that case I would imagine Germany does have higher standards than US.

Not really. Directors are not generally held liable for debts incurred by their companies in Germany. However, they can be held liable if they are found to be in breach of their duties as directors. Also, the onus of proof is reversed in some cases (e.g. the director needs to prove he wasn't in breach of his duty).

In US new enterprise have a very high failure rate, how do entrepreneurs survive in such environment?

So yes, when you collect the deferred salary it feels generous. But you were getting less salary up until that point in order to make the system solvent.

One may well prefer this arrangement, but one can't evaluate the generosity of the payment without also accounting for the cost that made it possible.

Find an employer who is willing to hire you and go through H1B visa lottery, which is the normal work visa.

Enroll in a US university, ideally a STEM degree, and use the OPT visa extension to get a foothold in the US.

Marry an American?

Probably plenty more options, but I'm not an expert in US immigration.

I look frequently, because if the pay was equal (or even 3/4) I'd love to live in Europe.

Also, they're referring to white collar tech employees. All salaried, all well above minimum wage and most definitively the highest paid (in that industry) in the world, including outside of SF/the Bay.

On the other hand, I understand people who are on tighter budgets who would rather have their revenue better aligned with their expenses rather than having to balance them on their own.