Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
garyharan.com
Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
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Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#2Denmark is an interesting case study of this working very well to encourage a competitive economy. In Denmark it is extremely easy to fire people, but also very easy to hire people. This actually decreases unemployment, because companies can easily downsize during recessions, weather the storm, and then hire the workers back (unlike in the US where companies have to hang on to contracts while in a downturn).
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story...
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#3I don't necessarily disagree with the thesis of this post, but this seems a bit of a tangent. Was Calcanis really advocating the French model? More than likely he was just venting over high turnover.
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#4Denmark is an interesting case study of this working very well to encourage a competitive economy. In Denmark it is extremely easy to fire people, but also very easy to hire people. This actually decreases unemployment, because companies can easily downsize during recessions, weather the storm, and then hire the workers back (unlike in the US where companies have to hang on to contracts while in a downturn). http://w…
This is quite interesting. Thanks for the link. It seems they are at their limit.
Quote from the Economist story: "Moreover, despite enviably low unemployment and labour shortages in industries from construction to health care, the Danes are having difficulties nudging the long-term unemployed into work. The post office complains that it cannot recruit new postmen. Newspaper distributors have started importing delivery boys from Poland. One ferry operator's effort to recruit 365 new workers was stymied by an epidemic of seasickness among the unemployed who applied. Even in Denmark, it seems, would-be workers have their limitations."
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#5Denmark is an interesting case study of this working very well to encourage a competitive economy. In Denmark it is extremely easy to fire people, but also very easy to hire people. This actually decreases unemployment, because companies can easily downsize during recessions, weather the storm, and then hire the workers back (unlike in the US where companies have to hang on to contracts while in a downturn). http://w…
That is pretty interesting. Perhaps this is part of the reason denmark is such a happy place: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=4086092&page=1
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#6I wouldn't be too quick to assume that bouncing around a lot will not have an adverse impact on your future ability to get hired for a good position - while it may not matter in some contexts, it definitely will for many jobs (including the best ones), where an employer will likely want to hire people who will stick and grow with the company.
Repeated hires are a cost and a drain for companies, and employers will definitely consider the intangible of whether you are likely to stay as a non-trivial factor affecting the hiring decision.
At the very least, if you bounce around a lot, you will be limiting your options for many future hires.
This is not to justify the parting shot given to the employee here. But don't lose perspective on this issue either.
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#7I don't necessarily disagree with the thesis of this post, but this seems a bit of a tangent. Was Calcanis really advocating the French model? More than likely he was just venting over high turnover.
Yes. Calacanis may have just been an excuse. More than likely Gary was just venting over the French model :)
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#8I wouldn't be too quick to assume that bouncing around a lot will not have an adverse impact on your future ability to get hired for a good position - while it may not matter in some contexts, it definitely will for many jobs (including the best ones), where an employer will likely want to hire people who will stick and grow with the company. Repeated hires are a cost and a drain for companies, and employers will def…
I'm tempted to believe that companies that prefer long term employment are the ones that need to train employees for their specific needs. Companies that make use of transferable skills instead increase their chances of a new hire quickly picking up where the previous employee left. e.g. a web dev, in a FOSS shop that uses well known best practices.
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#9Technically I suppose I might be a "Gen Y" something-or-other, though at 33 I feel too old to be a "trophy kid". But I'm a firm believer in the idea that if you change companies frequently, but also get large, valuable projects done, it all evens out pretty well.
Then again, perhaps that's just me rationalizing looking like a flake. Still, I'm a flake who has put together some good projects, and made some folks decent money. I'm okay with that.
Re: Low Barriers Are A Good Thing
#10Denmark is an interesting case study of this working very well to encourage a competitive economy. In Denmark it is extremely easy to fire people, but also very easy to hire people. This actually decreases unemployment, because companies can easily downsize during recessions, weather the storm, and then hire the workers back (unlike in the US where companies have to hang on to contracts while in a downturn). http://w…
This is quite interesting. Thanks for the link. It seems they are at their limit. Quote from the Economist story: "Moreover, despite enviably low unemployment and labour shortages in industries from construction to health care, the Danes are having difficulties nudging the long-term unemployed into work. The post office complains that it cannot recruit new postmen. Newspaper distributors have started importing delive…
> It seems they are at their limit.
Ease of hire/fire isn't the only factor affecting employment. The easier it is for me to make it without working, the less likely I am to work, no matter how much someone might want to hire me.