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

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31–40 of 508 posts

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

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You know someone works in programming if their name is Anders or Tobias

I know of a Tobias who ended up working as an analyst-therapist before switching to a successful acting career.

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

#32
Almost never happens that way. If a business has customers, it is ALWAYS possible to find monkeys to staff it, no disrespect to monkeys.

Of course, in these cases, the monkeys are often incompetent in the context of operating the business, so customers leave (or die). And THEN the business shuts down.

Many businesses will indeed complain about not being able to find monkeys to staff the business. What they mean is that they are unable to find monkeys who will work for peanuts when other businesses are paying monkeys in bananas, or something they like more than peanuts.

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

#33
post #25

Atari in 1983 went from the leader in video game production to completely imploding. In 1979, four of their best programmers left after demanding equity in the sales and were refused. Their CEO Ray Kassar famously said, "You’re no more important to those projects than the person on the assembly line who put them together. You’re a dime a dozen. You’re not unique. Anybody can do ­a ­cartridge.". They left and formed A…

the irony is that the CEO probably does less work than the assembly line worker

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

#34
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's sometimes illegal for teachers to even go on strike. My area had an incident where striking teachers were arrested and taken to jail.

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

#35
post #33
post #25

Atari in 1983 went from the leader in video game production to completely imploding. In 1979, four of their best programmers left after demanding equity in the sales and were refused. Their CEO Ray Kassar famously said, "You’re no more important to those projects than the person on the assembly line who put them together. You’re a dime a dozen. You’re not unique. Anybody can do ­a ­cartridge.". They left and formed A…

the irony is that the CEO probably does less work than the assembly line worker

I don't know if it's less work, but certainly the assembly worker definitely delivers more value.

Only one of the two killed the company.

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

#36
post #25

Atari in 1983 went from the leader in video game production to completely imploding. In 1979, four of their best programmers left after demanding equity in the sales and were refused. Their CEO Ray Kassar famously said, "You’re no more important to those projects than the person on the assembly line who put them together. You’re a dime a dozen. You’re not unique. Anybody can do ­a ­cartridge.". They left and formed A…

what's incredible about this is that Activision remains an industry leader whereas I'm not entirely sure if Atari even still exists.

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

#37
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know someone works in programming if their name is Anders or Tobias

I know of a Tobias who ended up working as an analyst-therapist before switching to a successful acting career.

the world's first...

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

#38
post #25

Atari in 1983 went from the leader in video game production to completely imploding. In 1979, four of their best programmers left after demanding equity in the sales and were refused. Their CEO Ray Kassar famously said, "You’re no more important to those projects than the person on the assembly line who put them together. You’re a dime a dozen. You’re not unique. Anybody can do ­a ­cartridge.". They left and formed A…

Is there a book on this you can recommend?

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

#39

The wedding photographer/videographer business I discussed in another thread last week. All his employees quit and he went under. I've personally been involved with more than one general contractor going under. When I was a young carpenter, I followed my best friend from job to job and contractor to contractor. When he walked off a job, the rest of us followed. He and I and a group of Dominicans (from Dominica not th…

Link to the wedding business comment - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32740708

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

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's sometimes illegal for teachers to even go on strike. My area had an incident where striking teachers were arrested and taken to jail.

"The floggings will continue until moral improves"
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