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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?

#261
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 everywhere.

The Government in my country is working on a law prohibiting nurses from striking for better working conditions (incl. more staffing) and better pay. Most countries have laws already to ensure adequate staffing for emergency personnel, but this is going way beyond those type of laws.

That's gonna work awesome once all the nurses start quitting. I hope they do.

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

#262
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are also illegal in most European countries.

They're not illegal in Germany, but the legal requirements are so onerous (50% salary paid for the duration of the non-compete) nobody does it. I believe it's similar in France.

I think Massachusetts has similar rules these days (after long-running opposition from some major employers). However, while 50% salary definitely makes a company put skin in the game, it's not a panacea. And, from an employee point of view, how many people will be comfortable with taking 50% salary (with no benefits, bonuses, or RSUs) to hang out for a year? Sure, some younger folks might see it as an opportunity but it may not be such a good deal for someone supporting a family.

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

#263
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…

Gaming abounds with stories like this. A friend of mine went to work for a small game studio in Oklahoma that'd gotten some acclaim for their quake mod pack. They took that momentum and started on their own novel IP as a quake licensee. They made a ahem mildly successful game named Medal of Honor. Some time down the road, the owner of the studio didn't want to share the wealth. As a result the top programmers, design…

I agree with your message though there's a scarier story in there. What if those people never left to make Call of Duty?

Under the boss they would have made more Medal of Honor, and maybe the next MoH's were not billion-dollar products.

Maybe had they gotten equity, we would never have a billion dollar CoD series!

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

#265
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vaccine isn't evidence-based science because it is experimental. You are part of a group of people who decided to take part and provide data. In 2024 when the first long term studies are due evidence-based medicine will begin. It is crazy you are unaware of this. Weren't you required to sign a form acknowledging these facts and allowing the government to become the custodial holder of these records? On average th…

HN comments have really gone down hill in quality. I'm quite sick of reading the same tired talking points you put up over and over.

For anything medical related it has always been like this.

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

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I'm talking about 2015. The first two Playstation only MoH games were not exactly failures, but they were little more than Goldeneye clones with WW2 themes. The first PC game is really the start of what we think of as the Medal of Honor franchise proper. The team that bailed founded Infinity Ward, which was the origin of Call of Duty, or at least the first like 8 games in the franchise. So yes, my story does in…

They asked very politely for you to clarify some details after they tried themselves but were unable to verify it by looking it up. Your hostility is unwarranted and rude. People are not psychic, it was quite reasonable for them to ask.

I think there's hostility on both sides here. "Could you clarify a few things?" is one thing, but "I don't think the story adds up" is a direct accusation of lying.

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

#268
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most job salaries can be linked directly to how much of a difference the employee can make. A complete dud at McDonalds in the kitchen might cost a few thousand on average but the further you go up, the greater the damage or benefit potential gets.

> I think most job salaries can be linked directly to how much of a difference the employee can make. I think that the world's, or at least the US's, teachers are a glaring counterexample.

The problem is that the value that teachers create is hard to compute and hard to capture, so in the end, no one is willing to pay for it.

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

#269
post #146
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The COVID vaccine decreases the severity of the disease's symptoms. Regardless of the other benefits, isn't that enough reason to get it? Firing some nurse who gets their opinions from Dr. Oz and has crystals in their bedroom is a net positive for the healthcare system in my opinion. I want my healthcare practitioners to be people of science, who practice evidence-based medicine, and are willing to change their opini…

The vaccine isn't evidence-based science because it is experimental. You are part of a group of people who decided to take part and provide data. In 2024 when the first long term studies are due evidence-based medicine will begin. It is crazy you are unaware of this. Weren't you required to sign a form acknowledging these facts and allowing the government to become the custodial holder of these records? On average th…

Come on, that argument was valid for about two or three months.

Nowadays, the outcomes from the several distinct vaccines have given us ten times, a hundred times more data than needed for such decisions.

On average, people like you simply can't help mistake anecdotes for data.

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

#270
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you figure? He invented several kinds of semiconductors he assembled the team that went on to found an entire industry. Much of that wealth could have been held onto by him, had he been less of an ass. People didn't leave over equity, or pay, they left because he was an asshole. Without him being a jackass, his company might have invented the things later invented at Fairchild.

Are you suggesting he was intentionally an ass to drive people away so that they could create something even greater? That truly is some 4D chess business.

You can get credit for mistakes all the time. Go speed past a cop, even by accident (distracted), collect your ticket and your credit for making the roadways a bit more hazardous and your police station a bit more wealthy.

He didn’t have to intend for them to leave to get credit for being the asshole that made them leave. :)

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