3 ms·

It's not the hiring, it's the firing which is difficult - which makes the hiring difficult. Similar to a marriage, the harder/more expensive you make the divorc

It's not the hiring, it's the firing which is difficult - which makes the hiring difficult. Similar to a marriage, the harder/more expensive you make the divorce, the more people will want to be super sure that it's "for ever".

hef19898 7y ago
There are two aspects to this, first you hired the wrong person and, second, the financial situation gets bad enough that head-count needs to be cut. Regarding the first problem, 6 months should be enough to decide whether the new hire fits or not. The second problem is a little bit tougher. There are two solutions, so. The first one is fixed-term contract, 1 year, 2 years. These can be extended (twice, if I remember well), which can be good solution for start-ups where long-term revenue is hard to gauge. The second is simple lay-offs. For young companies not that much a problem if there is a clear economic reason. You just close a department. If cutting long-term employees is a problem, maybe the underlying root cause is bad head-count planning, read over hiring above needs and the companies cash-flow. Employers complaining about "firing is so hard in Germany" is a little bit lazy if you ask me. Don't over hire to beginn with, also helps in situation like Corona as the cash position is much better.
- luckylion 7y ago
  > Regarding the first problem, 6 months should be enough to decide whether the new hire fits or not. Initially, possibly, but most contracts aren't fixed term. And I've seen way too many people that essentially do nothing, they know it, their manager knows it, but there's no way to get rid of them other than promoting them or waiting for them to retire. So they sit around and wait for retirement. It's like if your cell phone contract was a 10-year-contract. Very few people want that. > Employers complaining about "firing is so hard in Germany" is a little bit lazy if you ask me. Don't over hire to beginn with [...] They're just cutting one word out and follow that advise: Don't hire. Of course, it's not black and white, but if you get strong penalties (aka "I can't get rid of them") for over-hiring, you will make sure that you stay far below the over-hiring threshold.

hef19898 7y ago

There are two aspects to this, first you hired the wrong person and, second, the financial situation gets bad enough that head-count needs to be cut. Regarding the first problem, 6 months should be enough to decide whether the new hire fits or not. The second problem is a little bit tougher. There are two solutions, so. The first one is fixed-term contract, 1 year, 2 years. These can be extended (twice, if I remember well), which can be good solution for start-ups where long-term revenue is hard to gauge. The second is simple lay-offs. For young companies not that much a problem if there is a clear economic reason. You just close a department. If cutting long-term employees is a problem, maybe the underlying root cause is bad head-count planning, read over hiring above needs and the companies cash-flow. Employers complaining about "firing is so hard in Germany" is a little bit lazy if you ask me. Don't over hire to beginn with, also helps in situation like Corona as the cash position is much better.

luckylion 7y ago
> Regarding the first problem, 6 months should be enough to decide whether the new hire fits or not. Initially, possibly, but most contracts aren't fixed term. And I've seen way too many people that essentially do nothing, they know it, their manager knows it, but there's no way to get rid of them other than promoting them or waiting for them to retire. So they sit around and wait for retirement. It's like if your cell phone contract was a 10-year-contract. Very few people want that. > Employers complaining about "firing is so hard in Germany" is a little bit lazy if you ask me. Don't over hire to beginn with [...] They're just cutting one word out and follow that advise: Don't hire. Of course, it's not black and white, but if you get strong penalties (aka "I can't get rid of them") for over-hiring, you will make sure that you stay far below the over-hiring threshold.