If you're generating benefits, there should be very few reasons you need to let go people massively.
This is not me advocating for either side but it’s one of the reasons most startups exist in a country like the US.
WHy wouldn't they do that? What type of notice ado you mean in this case?
The only social contract that is guaranteed is the one written into law. That's why we have government, but the problem is that the government is (for a while now) captive to / bought by large corporations, not responsive to employees/workers/voters.
Whatever principled social contract you may have thought large corporations upheld was smoke and mirrors. It just worked for enough of the right kind of person for a while.
Beyond that, "social contracts" benefit the powerful and have a tendency to turn a blind eye to the worst off. Does the "social contract" require me to be a white, college educated male to secure worker protections? If you need a clear example of this, consider the relationship between citizens and police in the United States, and how blind the majority has been to how fundamentally broken the "social contract" around policing has been for minorities. That's what a handshake-society looks like.
Granted having both might be nice, but relying on a social contract is like relying on a benevolent dictator. It's great until it's not.
Change starts with regulation. That's how every other advanced economy handles it.
It's really not that complicated. It's the same situation as healthcare. You shouldn't rely on the free market to do anything other than maximize short term profits.
Personally, I'm in favor of regulations and stiff penalties for employers who break them.
At the time I remember talking about this becoming a norm as CEOs follow the lead and getting downvoted heavily. Its unfortunate that we are here, but also not surprising, given how limited empathy people have for each other at times here on HN. Unless we stand for each other, this won’t change.
For what it’s worth I was one of the people questioning why they needed so many people although I never said those let go deserved it.
Unfortunately that’s what managers, executives and investors are doing everywhere now. Everyone Should’ve been more careful with the reactions when the status quo was upended.
I don't know what the best solution for the current healthcare clusterfuck in the US is, but I think disassociating health insurance from employer/employment is a great first step.
The U.S. is suffering from office worker bloat. They have an increasing growing population of people who know very little about physical labor and most likely won't be able to adapt to upcoming AI induced mass unemployment. I only see the pain getting worse for them.
Not sure what the solution is for them here.
Mass Unemployment with no healthcare or supporting social services , very few opportunities and lots of guns.
It will not be ok.
It is almost like the company really is just doing it to arbitrage or get rid of expensive (aka old) employees.
Yeah and psychology was considered unserious, computers were still new, civil rights was barely ten years old and most work was unskilled labor.
What is your point? Stop using "not how it was 50 years ago" as an argument because it isn't one.
