Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees • Hacker News Board

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#21

Post by bilbo0s » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:41 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Being able to keep the health insurance is a life saver. And yes, we really need to rethink this whole, "employer bound health insurance"-thing.

Maybe it made sense in the world of easy access to middle class jobs that was the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's, etc. But today things are significantly different and we haven't adapted to reflect that reality.

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#22

Post by pmiller2 » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:47 PM UTC

bilbo0s wrote: post #21

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Being able to keep the health insurance is a life saver. And yes, we really need to rethink this whole, "employer bound health insurance"-thing. Maybe it made sense in the world of easy access to middle class jobs that was the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's, etc. But today things are significantly different and we haven't adapted to reflect that reality.

More like it made sense in the early 1940's when there were wage and price controls due to WW2, and it just kinda stuck.

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#23

Post by DoofusOfDeath » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:47 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Yes, the momentum of U.S. healthcare's structures and practices is extremely frustrating. Watching the planning and implementation of the Affordable Care Act was very disheartening. I'm genuinely curious what circumstances or events would / shall be necessary to effect large-scale improvements.

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#24

Post by synaesthesisx » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Man, it sure would be great if we could decouple health insurance from employment like other reasonable countries. It would be a shame to literally have your existence threatened by absurd factors well outside of your control (like your employer unable to meet payroll due to a global pandemic).

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#25

Post by heymijo » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

> At least they can stay on their health insurance.

FTA: At least through May

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#26

Post by twblalock » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:54 PM UTC

jolmg wrote: post #14

twblalock wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When we look back on this in a few years I think we will see the virus shutdowns accelerated some trends that were already slowly happening: - The demise of many traditional retail businesses - The concentration of surviving retail businesses into big box stores and higher-end retailers (like the stores at Westfield malls) - Increased usage of online shopping and gig delivery services - Even more growth for Amazon, W…

> - Even more growth for Amazon, Walmart, and Target Why Walmart and Target? Aren't they also traditional retail?

They are examples of traditional retail businesses that have adjusted well to the new world of online shopping.

They are also benefitting from another trend, which is that big-box stores in general are outlasting smaller stores. Another example would be Home Depot and Lowes thriving while smaller hardware stores fail. Shopping at a big box store is often more convenient than making multiple trips to smaller or more specialized retailers.

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#27

Post by ryaan_anthony » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:56 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Only if you are fired or quit. If you are laid off, you have the option to continue your insurance at your employers discounted rate. The program is called COBRA if you want to look into it.

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#28

Post by PopeDotNinja » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:58 PM UTC

ryaan_anthony wrote: post #27

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Only if you are fired or quit. If you are laid off, you have the option to continue your insurance at your employers discounted rate. The program is called COBRA if you want to look into it.

There's nothing discounted about COBRA. It's expensive as heck.

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#29

Post by ragona » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

ryaan_anthony wrote: post #27

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Only if you are fired or quit. If you are laid off, you have the option to continue your insurance at your employers discounted rate. The program is called COBRA if you want to look into it.

Haha "discounted." Have you ever looked at the prices for COBRA? Cool, you just lost your job, here's a $1500/mo option.

Re: Macy’s to Furlough 100k Employees

#30

Post by rankam » Mon, Mar 30, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

ryaan_anthony wrote: post #27

Ididntdothis wrote: post #19

At least they can stay on their health insurance. It’s always mind boggling that in the US you will not just lose your job when you get laid off but also your health insurance. For a lot of people this is life threatening.

Only if you are fired or quit. If you are laid off, you have the option to continue your insurance at your employers discounted rate. The program is called COBRA if you want to look into it.

Sure, technically COBRA covers you, but have you have seen how much it costs? It is unaffordable for most. US healthcare is a joke.