Unemployment in an uncertain economy

[GaryC 7]

Sorry to hear that Aidan. They did the same to Luz a few weeks ago. They notified her through registered mail. The day before there was no mention of lay-offs and the next the pink slip. It does suck to learn it that way.

The last time we had layoffs at my work we knew something was coming but had no idea who. We all carry radios and about an hour before quitting time the calls started coming in for each person to go to the office one at a time. That hour was terrible! We lost over half of our workforce that day. Knowing if you got a call you were out is a bad way to go. The relief when quitting time came and no call was like having a knife removed from your back. We actually had grown men crying when they heard their name called over the radio.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's pretty sad that companies treat employees in such a disposable fashion - especially if you've busted your a$$ for them for years.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

We actually had grown men crying when they heard their name called over the radio.

A job loss can be devastating. Especially when you know it might happen, have had time to think about it, and still have no Plan B (because you can't always have a plan B ).

Edited June 11, 2009 by Randomizer

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

People kill themselves for less. Sad but true.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

People kill themselves for less. Sad but true.

Aye. It's sad but unavoidable. No business has the same needs forever.

[scandal 951]

Layoffs suck. But it's that lovely "creative destruction" that Capitalist bourgeois pigs like to talk so much about. Redirecting resources and capital and equipment from one unproductive use to some more productive use elsewhere in the economy. Fine for the capitalists, fine for the economy, you say - but what about the displaced workers? Aha! That's market failure, my friend. That's why scumbag libertarian free-marketeers don't know squat and should STFU. That's why everyone should join the COMMIES FOR CHRIST in our great crusade to share the resources of production amongst the proletariat! Note that in Commies for Christ we HAVE no layoffs - permanent employment is assured for all able bodied workers. Even if it's in unproductive industries. Even if it means shipping them off to the gulag to work in the salt mines. EVERYBODY works in Commies for Christ.

ok. Seriously. This is capitalism, for better or for worse. I for one would rather live in an economy that allows business to shed labor rapidly, and is then able to rehire it rapidly. As opposed to one regulated by government and forced to employ unproductive workers (not necessarily due to fault by the workers ..."unproductive" meaning the business has no effective way to get an ROI from that labor), and thereby decrease the overall productivity of the economy, and retard growth. Just saying ... laissez faire is a good thing for most people, on aggregate. It only sucks if you're the one laid off. And lots of people today are getting laid off.

Note that even in the US, many companies will pay out a severance package to terminated employees. And you will probably qualify for state unemployment benefits. America is heartless, but much less so than it used to be before the New Deal and other progressive measures.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

People kill themselves for less. Sad but true.

Aye. It's sad but unavoidable. No business has the same needs forever.

I agree - but I don't understand why there isn't more openness and you these situations of being coming back from lunch to find that they've been let go.

Short of a major catastrophe - someone knows that they're going to be making layoffs well in advance of when they actually do.

[Peikko 1,575]

They fear sabotage from the workers. Do it suddenly and they are too stunned to organize. It's a capitalist plot to keep the workers in their places.

[SMOKE 1,426]

People kill themselves for less. Sad but true.

Aye. It's sad but unavoidable. No business has the same needs forever.

I agree - but I don't understand why there isn't more openness and you these situations of being coming back from lunch to find that they've been let go.

Short of a major catastrophe - someone knows that they're going to be making layoffs well in advance of when they actually do.

the 2 main reasons they do layoffs in that manner are....

1- they don't want account sheets & rolodexes being taken out of the building.

2- they don't want company property going out the door.

one should be prepared usbs are cheap.

[mawilson 2,133]

They fear sabotage from the workers. Do it suddenly and they are too stunned to organize. It's a capitalist plot to keep the workers in their places.

Sarcasm aside, that's exactly right.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

They fear sabotage from the workers. Do it suddenly and they are too stunned to organize. It's a capitalist plot to keep the workers in their places.

Sarcasm aside, that's exactly right.

Yep.

[Heracles 417]

Can an employer actually tell you when you arrive into work on a Tuesday or a Wednesday.. etc to pack up your stuff and get out, your position is gone? I mean don't they have to give you some notice or something? I'm sure my employer isn't just dumping people out on the street but giving them some kind of compensation when they do that. At the very least a few weeks pay to give them time to look for something? Maybe not maybe they are saying to some thanks for 5 or 10 or 15 years but get out?

Unfortunately in the United States, yes they can.

To some, such actions are acceptable and ethical business standards. The lack of protection for workers is a bit of a joke.

Edited June 11, 2009 by Constellation

[Peikko 1,575]

You can not lay my sarcasm on its side. Scoundrels the pair of you!

[Heracles 417]

As I said in another thread, to some paying a walmart worker barely above minimum wage is warranted. Allowing the Waltons to accrue billions for doing absolutely nothing and probably paying less tax than those employees, is acceptable. It throws the we are for hard workers rather than bludgers argument straight out the window.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I am sympathetic to paying working people more, but to imply that management "does nothing" just betrays how little you understand.