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Well, first, I really want an explanation of how "laying off older workers (even the ones who have kept up to date on technology) makes good economic sense". A
by protomyth 9y ago
Well, first, I really want an explanation of how "laying off older workers (even the ones who have kept up to date on technology) makes good economic sense". All I see is poor engineering and technology churn for stuff that was a solved issue years ago. If we are actually to become an engineering discipline we really need to start valuing experience. I really don't think the throw-away culture we have is going to work when so much of our lives start requiring software to work or someone gets killed.
- ams6110 9y agoIt makes sense in a bean-counter type of way, where you look at employees as warm bodies that can perform a task. You can generally pay young people less than older people. That is pretty much the same point of view that drives outsourcing also. Whether it is good for a company in the long run, is very dependent on the skills and experience required to perform those tasks well and provide value for customers.
- protomyth 9y agoBean-counters also buy crappy toilet paper[1] and don't mind removing benefits. That isn't really an explanation of why it makes "good economic sense", its an explanation on why people who don't do a specific job just don't value that job. 1) had an old manager that pointed out when the company starts buying the scratchy toilet paper, its probably time to move on sense they are going to make a lot of crappy decisions from now on.
- vinceguidry 9y agoSadly not a good metric anymore because most companies outsource their building maintenance and janitorial services. Still a great point.
- protomyth 9y agoEven with outsourcing there is some quality control by the company. Does my garbage can get emptied nightly, are the bathrooms clean, is the lighting replaced when burned out, etc. Companies that blame the facility are pretty much playing the numbers game.
- onychomys 9y agoI work for a certain extremely famous hospital in a small town in the midwest, and we have single ply. We had $700M in profits last year (...well, technically we're a non-profit, but we brought in $700M more than we spent, anyway), and so you'd think they could spring for maybe the two-ply Target brand, but nope, we get the same stuff as the bathrooms at the mall. Just the way of things, I guess.