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The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

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Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#221

Post by jmvoodoo »

Symmetry wrote: post #194
jmvoodoo wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had to lay off a decent number of people over the course of my career. The way I have always justified it is that I'm keeping the company healthy, and allowing far more people to keep their jobs in doing so. I'm sure there are cases where restructuring was done to the detriment of the business. I don't believe I've personally participated in any of those. That is part of the reason I took those jobs. Someone was…

In theory it would be better to cut everyone's pay than to lay off some people. But this brings lots of complications. https://www.econlib.org/archives/2013/09/why_dont_wages.html

A lot of these morale problems happen after layoffs as well. If the layoffs are deep enough it makes sense to move the entire company to a different city and completely reboot. In those situations I've seen as much as 90% of the company churn in the course of the year. Once the dust settles it's basically a new company and can feel like a high growth startup.

Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#222

Post by tootie »

cheeseomlit wrote: post #190
behindmyscreen wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Without fiat currency, the US would have crumbled into a pile of blood soaked rubble.

Can't tell if you guys are being facetious or not. The fiat model parallels the currency debasement in ancient Rome pretty well, and it'll probably have similar results.

No it doesn't. Besides the fundamental economic rules of supply and demand, there is absolutely nothing we can learn from looking at ancient Rome that is relevant to the modern world. And honestly, you look really foolish trying to draw a parallel between such a primitive society and anything post-industrial.

Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#223

Post by [deleted] »

cheeseomlit wrote: post #190
behindmyscreen wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Without fiat currency, the US would have crumbled into a pile of blood soaked rubble.

Can't tell if you guys are being facetious or not. The fiat model parallels the currency debasement in ancient Rome pretty well, and it'll probably have similar results.

[deleted]

Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#225

Post by datavirtue »

mtw wrote: post #84
BluSyn wrote: post #2

"The report said worry about an economic slowdown was the main driver of companies' layoff intentions." I sometimes wonder if these sorts of economic projections end up being self-fulfilling prophecies. If everyone tightens up spending because they expect a recession, that essentially guarantees there will be one.

It's not just projections or worries. Companies have real hard data, such as sales pipeline, inventories, orders etc. If your sales pipeline is down, inventory is stocking up, and your warehouse is idle compared to a year before, it is a manager's job to lay off employees. a few interesting reports: https://www.reddit.com/r/StockMarket/comments/aydpbu/first_h... https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1110161228507348…

It's the managers job to run the company in a way that they never have to lay off employees.

Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#226

Post by datavirtue »

hopler wrote: post #215
rabidrat wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does a profitable company justify layoffs then?

Because the work isn't needed. They arguably should pay workers more so workers can weather a future layoff or furlough, not pay people to come to work and do nothing.

I can find 1MM jobs that aren't needed in profitable companies.

Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#227

Post by jjeaff »

Symmetry wrote: post #194
jmvoodoo wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had to lay off a decent number of people over the course of my career. The way I have always justified it is that I'm keeping the company healthy, and allowing far more people to keep their jobs in doing so. I'm sure there are cases where restructuring was done to the detriment of the business. I don't believe I've personally participated in any of those. That is part of the reason I took those jobs. Someone was…

In theory it would be better to cut everyone's pay than to lay off some people. But this brings lots of complications. https://www.econlib.org/archives/2013/09/why_dont_wages.html

Would be interesting to take a vote from the employees. Would they rather take a collective paycut or have x% chance of getting laid off?

Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#229

Post by gdy »

Symmetry wrote: post #194
jmvoodoo wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had to lay off a decent number of people over the course of my career. The way I have always justified it is that I'm keeping the company healthy, and allowing far more people to keep their jobs in doing so. I'm sure there are cases where restructuring was done to the detriment of the business. I don't believe I've personally participated in any of those. That is part of the reason I took those jobs. Someone was…

In theory it would be better to cut everyone's pay than to lay off some people. But this brings lots of complications. https://www.econlib.org/archives/2013/09/why_dont_wages.html

And the best employees, who can find a new job even during recession, will leave.

Re: The U.S. just had the most Q1 layoffs in a decade

#230

Post by gdy »

nostrademons wrote: post #160
ajross wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the government can. The 2008 crisis didn't happen in deposit banking, but it was effectively a "bank run" in the same sense you're talking about -- all the assets banks could normally use to draw on to meet obligations froze up, and they ran out of money. And the government stepped in, becoming a lender of last resort. And it worked (not well, maybe, but it worked). Saying "the economy is powered by belief"…

The government is powered by belief too. When a critical mass of people start saying "This is not my government, and I'm not subject to its authority", it ceases to be the government. This last happened (unsuccessfully) in the U.S. in 1861, but is a regular occurrence in many other parts of the world. The effect of 2009's QE was to couple the full faith & credit of the financial system with the full faith & credit of…

"the whole society will come crashing down, like Syria or Venezuela"

Especially if a certain foreign power and its allies act accordingly to Nietzsche's "That which is falling, deserves to be pushed"

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