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“Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

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Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#21

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

andybak wrote: post #12
brenden2 wrote: post #7

What I've been hearing on the internet is that companies are racing to lay off as many people as they need to now, before applying for their free bailout money from the government. It also sounds like businesses are trying to lay off more than they actually need to lay off, in order to get the maximum benefit. The terms of the bailout loans are such that they can lay off people before they apply, get the money, and s…

People like to compare the current situation to wartime and I think some of the parallels are useful. In wartime there is a much stronger moral backlash against perceived profiteering. We're seeing it in the UK with campaigns to boycott companies that have already shown no desire to share the nation's pain. Hopefully companies that cynically abuse the bailout will find themselves tarnished in a way that is harder to…

It kinda happened with Gamestop here. They tried to classify themselves as essential business first ( I kinda bought the argument btw. - there are people who don't handle isolation well; entertainment helps ), but after backlash all of a sudden delivery @door came into being.

I will add that all of a sudden, I have way more respect for Amazon ( not for their employee practices ; it is a separate can of worms ). Their website just works. I tried to do similar things yesterday on BestBuy I did on Amazon and it was just made purposefully difficult.

In my darker moments, I want some of those companies to fail hard now so that something better may be ushered in. But then I remember people don't behave in a civilized manner then.

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#22

Post by NOGDP »

andybak wrote: post #12
brenden2 wrote: post #7

What I've been hearing on the internet is that companies are racing to lay off as many people as they need to now, before applying for their free bailout money from the government. It also sounds like businesses are trying to lay off more than they actually need to lay off, in order to get the maximum benefit. The terms of the bailout loans are such that they can lay off people before they apply, get the money, and s…

People like to compare the current situation to wartime and I think some of the parallels are useful. In wartime there is a much stronger moral backlash against perceived profiteering. We're seeing it in the UK with campaigns to boycott companies that have already shown no desire to share the nation's pain. Hopefully companies that cynically abuse the bailout will find themselves tarnished in a way that is harder to…

I doubt there will be any serious backlash or even a non-trivial amount of reporting about such cases. Also, not sure what kind of backlash there really was over war profiteering - plenty of American companies collaborated with Nazi Germany, and plenty of Nazi companies are still around and going strong today. Grassroots campaigns to boycott 'bad' companies seem to start, fizzle out and disappear all the time these days. There is no support for such boycotts from mainstream media or the powers that be.

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#24

Post by apta »

brenden2 wrote: post #7

What I've been hearing on the internet is that companies are racing to lay off as many people as they need to now, before applying for their free bailout money from the government. It also sounds like businesses are trying to lay off more than they actually need to lay off, in order to get the maximum benefit. The terms of the bailout loans are such that they can lay off people before they apply, get the money, and s…

Are we really surprised though? This is just capitalism at work.

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#25

Post by dvtrn »

tucaz wrote: post #15
CoryAlexMartin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are owners of small businesses able to make money while their company fails? I would like to know because I plan on starting a business in the coming year.

I’d like to know too. If it’s so easy to make money while failing I think I might start a business just to fail and make money. Rinse and repeat and I’ll be rich very fast.

May as well just start day trading at that point, dunno about the rich fast part, or the rich at all part but hey, the math is fun at least.

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#26

Post by jkestner »

amelius wrote: post #3

Sounds like how it should be. Business owners are taking the risks, but also profit more in good times.

Small businesses maybe, but large businesses work the cycles of the economy like a ratchet. Bailouts in hard times, buybacks in good times.

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#27

Post by FillardMillmore »

coding123 wrote: post #20
brenden2 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately there's little visibility into this, so we can raise our pitch forks and go after companies with angry mobs, but at the end of the day we don't really know what's going on inside every company. The law makers are the ones who write the cheques and make the system the way it is. The real problem is how laws are made and how the government functions.

There are usually people that know about the abuse. You have to hope for whistleblowers at that point.

If a company is behaving unethically (but not necessarily illegally), whistleblowers can help in informing the public as to the abuse. It is especially needed in times of crisis (like this one), but because it's a time of crisis, I would assume the motivations of whistleblowers may be less strong if they don't feel entirely financially secure.

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#28

Post by brenden2 »

apta wrote: post #24
brenden2 wrote: post #7

What I've been hearing on the internet is that companies are racing to lay off as many people as they need to now, before applying for their free bailout money from the government. It also sounds like businesses are trying to lay off more than they actually need to lay off, in order to get the maximum benefit. The terms of the bailout loans are such that they can lay off people before they apply, get the money, and s…

Are we really surprised though? This is just capitalism at work.

Surprised, no. But if you listen to the talking heads on the TV they will tell you a different story about how great this is for everyone.

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#29

Post by adaisadais »

brenden2 wrote: post #16
andybak wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People like to compare the current situation to wartime and I think some of the parallels are useful. In wartime there is a much stronger moral backlash against perceived profiteering. We're seeing it in the UK with campaigns to boycott companies that have already shown no desire to share the nation's pain. Hopefully companies that cynically abuse the bailout will find themselves tarnished in a way that is harder to…

Unfortunately there's little visibility into this, so we can raise our pitch forks and go after companies with angry mobs, but at the end of the day we don't really know what's going on inside every company. The law makers are the ones who write the cheques and make the system the way it is. The real problem is how laws are made and how the government functions.

> The law makers are the ones who write the cheques and make the system the way it is. The real problem is how laws are made and how the government functions

Amen x 1,000,000. We elected these people whether we voted or not. As a people (whatever country we are in) it is our responsibility to hold them accountable because they will not hold themselves accountable. The whole system is completely broken.

I have but one concrete political belief / theory: Vote ‘em Out! Whenever I have to opportunity to vote I vote for whoever is running against the incumbent. The goal would be to ultimately create an ideological equilibrium instead of a mass polarization (as is currently happening in the US and abroad).

Re: “Today I cut my pay to $0. I'm committed to laying off 0 of our employees.”

#30

Post by matwood »

brenden2 wrote: post #7

What I've been hearing on the internet is that companies are racing to lay off as many people as they need to now, before applying for their free bailout money from the government. It also sounds like businesses are trying to lay off more than they actually need to lay off, in order to get the maximum benefit. The terms of the bailout loans are such that they can lay off people before they apply, get the money, and s…

Do you have a good link explaining the details on the loans -> grants? I’m having a hard time finding an analysis of the final signed bill.
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