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Comment by BhavdeepSethi | Hacker News Reader

Elon made this popular with Twitter/X. Offered a voluntary exit in the "Fork in the road" email with a deadline. The message was quite similar, that if you're not aligned with the company's [new] vision, you can choose to leave with severance.

It seems better than doing random layoffs, no?

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Sure, it's certainly better than layoffs. I don't really dispute that. I'd rather get a severance and I have at least a nominal option about leaving instead of being forced out.

I guess I'm just sick of companies massively overhiring, creating a ton of redundant employees in the process, and deciding to get rid of a ton afterward. We give these corporations so much power in our lives and they treat us like pawns. They control our healthcare and dictate where we live, they should treat this power with the responsibility it deserves.

Well, I guess the root of the problem is that while it's "at-will" employement, neither side is actually expecting the other to leave tomorrow. The company has set goals and etc that it expects you to do for the remainder of the year and you also assumed that it's not going to fire you before you do them.

It is a bit weird that contractually we have no expectations but socially we do.

I don't get the frustration about overhiring. Predicting the future is provably impossible. Everybody is going to get it wrong to some degree. I'd much rather see companies overhire than underhire. At least then the laid off employees get experience and a salary for some time.

> they should treat this power with the responsibility it deserves

They would be forced to, to some degree, if people decided to unionize. They'll never do it voluntarily.

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