Slashdot Mirror
The Tech Industry's Legacy: Creating Disposable Employees
An anonymous reader writes: VentureBeat is running an indictment of the tech industry's penchant for laying off huge numbers of people, which they say is responsible for creating a culture of "disposable employees." According to recent reports, layoffs in the tech sector reached over 100,000 last year, the highest total since 2009. Of course, there are always reasons for layoffs: "Companies buy other companies and need to rationalize headcount. And there's all that disruption. Big companies, in particular, are seeing their business models challenged by startups, so they need to shed employees with skills they no longer need, and hire people with the right skills."
But the article argues that this is often just a smokescreen. "The notion here is that somehow these companies are backed into a corner, with no other option than to fire people. And that's just not true. These companies are making a choice. They're deciding that it's faster and cheaper to chuck people overboard and find new ones than it is to retrain them. The economics of cutting rather than training may seem simple, but it's a more complex calculation than most people believe. ... Many of these companies are churning through employees, laying off hundreds on one hand, while trying to hire hundreds more."
But the article argues that this is often just a smokescreen. "The notion here is that somehow these companies are backed into a corner, with no other option than to fire people. And that's just not true. These companies are making a choice. They're deciding that it's faster and cheaper to chuck people overboard and find new ones than it is to retrain them. The economics of cutting rather than training may seem simple, but it's a more complex calculation than most people believe. ... Many of these companies are churning through employees, laying off hundreds on one hand, while trying to hire hundreds more."
Most tech companies are not operated as going concerns and thus have no HR policies beyond hiring and firing.
Hire another local programmer at 110% of the fired employee's salary to fix the cheap H1B programmer's code = 60% loss.
Hire 2 new FTE programmer/H1B programmers for 50% of the 2nd local programmer's salary = another 50% savings = 100% savings!
Where is my honorary MBA?!
He puts on his resume that he saved the company 50% and leaves for a new job before the chickens come home to roost.
This. I've actually seen this practice in action. My division is always in the red because we do not directly make money, we build the products, services and tech that another division then sells. So we end up looked down upon as a money sink while they are heralded as the saviors.
> Agreed. I have been laid just once
That's about par for the course for Slashdot nerds. :)
Only 22 years ago
Link
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Wait a minute... MBAs don't do math! They just shout slogans and business speak at each other... or they hire a consultant to do it.
MBAs leverage the synergies created by the exciting opportunities created in the emerging digital economy. They take a holistic, ubiquitous view of an organizations ability to.......BINGO!!!
My ism, it's full of beliefs.