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Comment by kevinthew | Hacker News Reader

Never, ever give more than 2 (or 3 weeks if you're like senior staff) weeks notice. It's not your obligation to make sure the company is run well. You should also look out for yourself because no company will ever look out for you despite what you tell yourself. This is a shitty article.

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Yes, I would think it should be reciprocal. It's common in Denmark for employment contracts to specify 6 weeks notice on both sides. I would be fine signing such a contract in the U.S. too, if a company wanted to ensure a more stable employment relationship. But that condition isn't common.

If the employer doesn't offer you a contract with terms about mutual notice periods, I don't think it would be prudent to unilaterally extend a lengthy notice period with no assurances from the other side. As the article admits, if you give six weeks' notice and the boss reacts angrily, he/she can turn around and fire you instantly with no notice, since the company never committed to any notice period. It's a completely asymmetric situation there. Giving notice closer to when you plan to leave the job (say, the traditional two weeks) reduces your downside exposure to loss of income.

I do think it would be nice, for both sides, if mutual notice periods of at least a few weeks became more common terms in employment contracts. That way the company can plan for the loss of the employee, and employees who are to be terminated can plan for the loss of job/income.

This. What company acting in their best interest would give any sort of notice before a layoff? Maybe a frank discussion that things aren't going according to plan and we only have X months of runway, but that's about it.

The large companies I've worked for have done layoffs like "Surprise, we're laying you off in 6 weeks..." which is better than not telling you.

I've seen large companies lay off workers, some of whom have been with the company for many years, with no notice at all.

@Kevinthew sounds like you've had some bad experiences. I didn't suggest giving more notice to "make sure the company is run well." I suggested giving more notice as a way to "ensure that when a valuable employee leaves, they leave in a timely and respectful manner to both them and the team they had worked with?" which was the question that was asked on my blog.

If you want to leave a company and burn the relationships you formed while you were there, then by all means, give as little notice as possible.

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