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Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

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Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#11

Post by nomel »

jarym wrote: post #5
MikeF_323 wrote: post #3

Borland. I worked there up until the mid 90s and then was recruited by Microsoft. They picked off all the great talent leaving barely any competent engineers left. I alongside a ton of other engineers were wined and dined and given a hell of an offer we couldn't refuse. It was insane, I should write a book honestly. I miss those days, it was the wild west of tech.

I wonder what makes a company poach like this vs do an aquihire

Cost, surely. Paying for 10 engineers is much cheaper than paying for them and the IP they helped produce over the years, especially if you're not interested in that IP.

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#12

Post by yardie »

Printing press. The pressman that operated the largest press quit, fired, no showed, or whatever. Margins are already thin so losing just 1 press can be pretty devastating. A pressman, even a trained one, has to be trained since each machine is build to order. It’s not something you can post a job in Indeed and have a new employee after a week.

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#13

Post by bombcar »

nomel wrote: post #11
jarym wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what makes a company poach like this vs do an aquihire

Cost, surely. Paying for 10 engineers is much cheaper than paying for them and the IP they helped produce over the years, especially if you're not interested in that IP.

Poaching can be done quietly and cheaply, acquihires get everyone publically.

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#14

Post by strathmeyer »

I worked for a startup company where they stopped paying employees, management quit and offered to buy the company, owner refused, then everyone else quit. Like most stories like this it's a company you've never heard of and everyone moved on.

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#15

Post by ethbr0 »

vsskanth wrote: post #9

There was a very recent case where an emergency trauma center had to shut down because all the nurses left for another hospital for better working conditions. It’s also common in rehab centers. You can’t take Medicare patients without a minimum staff count. If too many nurses leave, patients can’t be accepted and you end up bleeding. Basically any job that primarily requires human capital.

That's a lot of hospitals in the US and Canada right now.

Turns out if you cut nurses' compensation and retirement match during the pandemic, ask them to work overtime due to understaffing, and then don't restore benefits or give them raises to match inflation after... they walk.

Who knew?

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#16

Post by aintmeit »

Watching companies, like the ones you're thinking of, react the way you describe reminds me of listening to recovering alcoholics throwing their lives away. But it's too little, too late. Something has got to give, and you pray to God everyone keeps their lips shut and noses clean. Because if you think about, the situation is kind of a ticking time bomb! Hahaha.

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#17

Post by hollywood_court »

ethbr0 wrote: post #15
vsskanth wrote: post #9

There was a very recent case where an emergency trauma center had to shut down because all the nurses left for another hospital for better working conditions. It’s also common in rehab centers. You can’t take Medicare patients without a minimum staff count. If too many nurses leave, patients can’t be accepted and you end up bleeding. Basically any job that primarily requires human capital.

That's a lot of hospitals in the US and Canada right now. Turns out if you cut nurses' compensation and retirement match during the pandemic, ask them to work overtime due to understaffing, and then don't restore benefits or give them raises to match inflation after... they walk. Who knew?

I could not imagine being a nurse or a teacher in the US right now. I wish they realized that they have the leverage and can go on strike. I imagine that's difficult for many of them as they most certainly need the income. A rock and a hard place. I always smile when I read about a nurse or teacher switching to a completely different career field and finding themselves more content.

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#18

Post by moosedev »

MikeF_323 wrote: post #3

Borland. I worked there up until the mid 90s and then was recruited by Microsoft. They picked off all the great talent leaving barely any competent engineers left. I alongside a ton of other engineers were wined and dined and given a hell of an offer we couldn't refuse. It was insane, I should write a book honestly. I miss those days, it was the wild west of tech.

I’d enjoy reading more in this very thread, if you don’t feel up to writing the whole book right now :)

Edit: Fan of Borland products in the 90s!

Re: Ask HN: What are examples of companies dying due to many people quitting?

#20

Post by triyambakam »

MikeF_323 wrote: post #3

Borland. I worked there up until the mid 90s and then was recruited by Microsoft. They picked off all the great talent leaving barely any competent engineers left. I alongside a ton of other engineers were wined and dined and given a hell of an offer we couldn't refuse. It was insane, I should write a book honestly. I miss those days, it was the wild west of tech.

I think that's how Anders Hejlsberg (creator of C# and Typescript) joined Microsoft?
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