Most individuals aren't essential, and no one would prioritize them. However, a company is successful due to the individuals that work within. When 700 out of 770 employees in quite frankly the hottest startup in the world band together and threaten to leave (and join Microsoft) if they aren't given an appropriate explanation, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks an employer owes an employee. Implying otherwise is absurd.

If ~91% of the employees leave OpenAI, they will not be fine. That is delusional.

The truth is in-between, if a company tells you you're valuable or even irreplaceable they're buttering you up. Thank them but try not to let it go to your head, if the wind changes you can end up under the bus. But a powerful brand really can collapse overnight if 90%+ of employees leave.

We're seeing some odd bedfellows here, between the C-levels and VCs in closed door meetings and employees acting collectively. Normally these groups would be at odds, but today they're pulling together. Life is strange.

Seems very feudal, serfdom mindset to accept that your employer doesn't owe you an explanation.

An employment is a contract which both parties enter into willingly. Termination of contract deserves some level of empathetic glad handling, however minimal. It's just game theory - if you plan to hire again, you have to be gracious while firing someone because word gets around.

Other breaking news: Treating your employees like garbage is a dumb way to run a business, especially in an emerging industry where you are racing trillion dollar corporations to market and those employees are literally inventing your product.

Weird take in this context. Nearly all of the company has threatened to walk out and join Microsoft.

As an employee I want to know that the board/execs/c suite are doing a good job and their decisions align with the companies stated goals. If they are not then it is time to start looking for a new job so that I don't end up in a bad situation financially.

> An employer does not owe you an explanation.

If the entire workforce of the company is credibly threatening to quit, and a competitor is publicly and credibly offering them jobs, then what the employer “owes” them in some cosmic sense no longer matters. I think the OpenAI employees are likely to get an explanation and/or a resignation from the board, whether you think the board “owes” them that or not.

Well here's the power of collective action in play.