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Comment by luismedel | Hacker News Reader

I find the use of infantile terms like 'zoomie' insulting. Please, treat your employees with due respect. You're giving them life-changing news.

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Any ex-Googlers care to comment?

They seem to embrace it: https://xoogler.co

I always thought Xoogler was a moniker that wasn't given but was chosen by x-Googlers.

Source: Me, Xoogler.

Zoomer Zoomers.

Changing jobs should not be life-changing.

Layoffs are life changing. Not everyone who is laid off is an in-demand engineer. “Tech jobs” obscure the fact that most roles are non- or light-technical jobs that are common at many companies (HR, sales, support, etc).

It’s shouldn’t but when your health insurance relies on it , it pretty much is

People keep talking about this as if it is preACA. With COBRA you can keep your health insurance for a while and you can get similar plans from the exchanges. It shouldn’t be a huge deal considering the severance frequently also includes some lump some to cover it.

The existence of the ACA is no panacea. Many physicians and clinics purposely refuse to honor any ACA plan (for political reasons, in at least some cases of which I unfortunately know from personal experience). And everyone who’s been on COBRA for any length of time knows it is God-awful expensive since you’re now paying for the whole piece.

It’s good to put a number out for people who don’t know: I estimate ~500/month for the employer portion for an individual coverage. Whether that’s considered “God awful” or “peanuts” is dependent on one’s situation but most probably for the average tech employee in California it shouldn’t be the end of the world compared to their other expenditures.

Sure, I also prefer disassociation of health care from employment but I think it’s important not to scare people away from layoffs or discourage exploration of other opportunities because they’d be scared of losing health coverage.

Many jobs have very similar health care offerings and access to the same doctors. Changing your commute and your total compensation will have more life impact than the healthcare insurance provider change.

And depending on industry having to relocate or increase your commute.

So to be clear, layoffs aren't life changing outside the US?

but they're statement was it shouldnt. They shouldnt be downvoted for what they didnt say.

Without additional context on which parties the "shouldn't" applies to, and why it shouldn't, the comment doesn't add to the conversation. Seems like a reason to downvote to me.

It has a very high likelihood of being life-changing for people on work visas.

It is also life-changing for anyone who genuinely believed in their job, whether out of passion or naïveté. Work is (unfortunately) a major pillar of people's lives in modern society and having that pillar collapse on you unexpectedly can be traumatic especially for younger adults early in their careers.

Also, there's a big difference between changing jobs on your own accord vs. being fired/laid off against your own desire.

This is a should-be vs is-actually confusion. While you're working to create the future you hope to see, you still need to exist in the world as it actually is.

Depends on the job.

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