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The absolute worst scenario happened

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Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#151

Post by danjac »

scandox wrote: post #35

How people handle this level of disaster is always very revealing. In every case I've ever experienced someone kept their head and a solution was found. Usually there was reputational damage but surprisingly most times the actual business bounced back. But it was always the actions of someone in particular in those first hours that made the difference. Thinking you're fucked is unhelpful, because you start talking ab…

Looking through the comments, it appears concerns were raised for years and management refused to allow the necessary changes to save money.

While you can and should be the cool head in the room, it's a route to burnout if you end up being the hero who has to keep saving a dysfunctional organization and management from the consequences of its own failures. By all means do your best fix the immediate problem but get the hell out as soon as you can.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#152

Post by the_duke »

viraptor wrote: post #75
xchaotic wrote: post #42

has anyone figured out who the company is by now? Surely there must be some reports of the outage by now?

There's a small chance it's just a made up story for fun. If not, some outlets should pick it up soon.

Not necessarily, there are many small companies in this space.

But knowing Reddit, I'd give this a solid 50/50 chance of being fake.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#154

Post by filleduchaos »

drclau wrote: post #132
tw04 wrote: post #88

I actually don't see any issue that isn't simply a matter of money. Everything they list that's an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company. Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors. If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate. If this is truly "fix this or the business is out…

Not really related to the subject of the article, but your comment reminds me of employers in Romania complaining they can't find people to hire, while they offer small salaries and people just leave the country for better paying jobs abroad. The solution to their problem is really simple: make better offers.

> The solution to their problem is really simple: make better offers.

That's certainly a simple solution.

The problem with simple solutions is that they are near guaranteed to not actually be feasible or realistic.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#155

Post by CaptainZapp »

driton wrote: post #134
CaptainZapp wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does this 3 month period apply in reverse (employer can't fire employees without a full 3 month warning)? Of course. Different notice periods for employers and employees would be outright illegal in most of Europe.

I am in the Netherlands, and my current contract stipulates that should they want to get rid of me, the company has to notify me 4 months in advance, whereas should I want to leave, I need to notify them 2 months in advance. Do you have any sources on the legality of different notice periods in Europe?

The legal situation in Switzerland would (probably) allow for this. What it wouldn't allow is the reverse agreement. I.e. you can be fired in 2 month, but have to give 4 month notice.

There are three types of employment laws herearound:

- Statutes can be changed freely if both agree

- They can be changed only to the employees advantage. For example: minimum vacation days are 20 days. A contract can stipulate 30 days, but not 10, or 15 days

- Some statutes cannot be changed at all.

I can obviously not speak for all of Europe (plus INAL, etc), but would assume that it's comparable in most of Europe, or even more stringent in terms of employee protection. Employee laws here are quite liberal compared to other European countries.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#156

Post by CaptainZapp »

detaro wrote: post #116
CaptainZapp wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does this 3 month period apply in reverse (employer can't fire employees without a full 3 month warning)? Of course. Different notice periods for employers and employees would be outright illegal in most of Europe.

> Different notice periods for employers and employees would be outright illegal in most of Europe. AFAIK more common is "lower notice period for employers is illegal".

I stand corrected.

See my comment below.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#157

Post by erikstarck »

driton wrote: post #114
erikstarck wrote: post #46

This reminds me of when the Danish mega-corp Maersk was attacked by ransomware and had all of their computers locked and decrypted with no access. All computers except one, which due to a power failure had been offline the whole time. This computer had the critical DNS information needed to restore the network. Only problem: it was in Africa, in a country that required Visa which would take weeks to apply for and rec…

Sounds very interesting, but the story seems to be behind a paywall. I found some other articles[0][1] related to the incident, however none of them seem to mention the flying of a hard drive across continents. 0: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-the-key-lesson-maer... 1: https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/when-the-screens-went-bla...

Sorry about the paywalled article. Here’s a summary of the same article: https://www.chrislouie.net/blog/2018/9/10/better-to-be-lucky...

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#158

Post by shagie »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #129
alistairSH wrote: post #89

Tangent Alert! I have a 3 months resignation period, so I can't even leave... Maybe it's my (US) American experience, but being unable to quit a job strikes me as a terrible policy. This guy(gal?) is really required to submit 3 months notice or face some sort of repercussions (financial, I assume)? Does this 3 month period apply in reverse (employer can't fire employees without a full 3 month warning)? Not that the A…

I'm looking to leave my current job but if voluntarily leave in my first year I have to surrender my signing bonus. It's certainly a crushing feeling to be chained to a job. Even worse are these stupid 2 weeks or unimaginable 3 months notice. As everyone says- you'll never get notice you're being fired. It'll be quick like a mob hit.

For many positions, the person isn't a positively contributing member for three to six months. A positive ROI on the expense of hiring them isn't realized until much later. Having signing and relocation bonuses be paid back if the person doesn't stay for a year is quite reasonable in that context.

"We didn't pay for your relocation to X just so that you could change jobs after a few months."

Two weeks notice is a courtesy.

The much maligned PIP is often a hint that you're going to be let go. Rarely is there a "you're being let go today, pack your desk" unless there is cause (the one time I saw it was because someone was using their desktop support credentials to snoop on the CIO's computer - that one they weren't even given the pack your desk) or the company is in trouble (and in which case, things like the WARN period kick in).

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#159

Post by tkgally »

ACS_Solver wrote: post #105
alistairSH wrote: post #89

Tangent Alert! I have a 3 months resignation period, so I can't even leave... Maybe it's my (US) American experience, but being unable to quit a job strikes me as a terrible policy. This guy(gal?) is really required to submit 3 months notice or face some sort of repercussions (financial, I assume)? Does this 3 month period apply in reverse (employer can't fire employees without a full 3 month warning)? Not that the A…

In my EU-centric worldview, the US system of at-will employment, and of two-week notices as the standard courtesy, is crazy. Three months is the typical notice period for tech workers and other highly-skilled jobs. One month is the legal minimum in Sweden, and certainly several other countries. Of course it goes both ways, in fact it's even more difficult for the employer to get rid of an employee. An employee doesn'…

I remember reading many years ago that employees in the U.S. have the right to quit at any time because being penalized for quitting would make the employment “involuntary servitude,” which is forbidden by the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I can’t find any confirmation of that explanation on the web now, though.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#160

Post by Eremotherium »

acjacobson wrote: post #126
Eremotherium wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least in Germany this goes both ways. The period can also be longer depending on your seniority. This is to give the company time to find a proper replacement for you and allow for a smoother handoff. Of course if both parties agree the grace period can be skipped or shortened. You usually don't get stuck with duds because there's a probationary period of (max.) 6 months in the beginning in which these protections…

There are certain things that you can outright be fired for - such as stealing, I believe. I think that showing up drunk for work might also be one of them?

AFAIK showing up drunk isn't enough but if you fuck up (I think that's the legal term) and say you drop the production DB while drunk that you can be fired immediately.
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