Layoffs and Loyalty in a Liquid Valley

The opportunities that come up for a "smart" person is many-fold for the ones who're not acknowledged as smart - the difference in productivity might be minimal, but the label can be sticky purely due to narcissism.

Don't get me wrong. Self belief is an important part of signing up for a challenge that is bigger than anything you've done before - instead of being given a new badge & the same job elsewhere.

Then, there's the trouble with the signaling of "loyalty".

Not looking for another job is too easy to qualify as loyalty. But that's what mostly gets put up as being loyal, which is fairly low-bar for anyone.

Now, the trouble is removing the "just not looking" confounding factor from a proper study - relying on self-reporting for that is going to produce bias.

Loyalty as a word has come to mean a pseudo-virtue which is papered over the actual rational decision to stick with what you've got, considering all the risks. And people who can't see opportunity over the horizon rarely get to better places.

The fact that people blossom when they get laid off takes away that illusion - there is no status quo bias or loss aversion to overcome. Immediately people are less risk averse to new roles, knock on more doors & grow.

Loyalty as practiced would mean acting in mutual benefit always - not sacrifice.

I can't subscribe to this generalization. The context and manner are both extremely important.

You can be loyal to a company and to your colleagues while moving on to a new job. If you're advancing on the world, you may well find ways to send opportunities to the people and businesses you've worked with in the past. Likewise, good employers (companies and bosses) are loyal by putting people first, even when the employment relationship is ending.

> You need to be in a position financially to live several years without a paycheck because it could take years for the job market dynamics to change and become more favourable for the employee.

How insane is that?

Add to the fact that cost of living is so high now in the Bay Area, and safe returns are so low, that building up any sort of true emergency savings is difficult... Insane.

That means you can quit your job at any time, for any reason, effective immediately.

It also means you can be fired at any time, for any reason (Except illegal reasons). effective immediately.

This is a description of the law in Texas: http://www.davidcholmeslaw.com/blog/what-is-the-at-will-empl...