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I don't know about firing, but certainly getting laid-off is really looked down on, regardless of circumstances. I've heard that employers do significant backg

I don't know about firing, but certainly getting laid-off is really looked down on, regardless of circumstances. I've heard that employers do significant background checks now. Low credit scores are a red flag. Arrests are also a red flag. Not convictions, but arrests. The social thing sounded a bit weird to me. But then, most of the people I've worked with either base their social scene around their work, or around something else (e.g. church). If you're not in one of those groups, you'll simply find yourself growing ever more distant.

dools 15y ago
Jesus that sounds horrible. So now if you default on a loan you not only lose your house but can't get a decent job, and thus cannot afford healthcare. I don't know how you guys get anything done over there I'd just spend my life ina state of perpetual paranoia.
pstack 15y ago
I've never heard of being laid off as being looked down upon. Firing, sure, but not laid off. That's beyond your control and is a business decision. If your company wipes out an entire product because of some acquisition or poor executive "vision" and decides they need to wipe out two thirds of your division, that's hardly your fault. And if they have a habit of favoring seniority, then it's even less a comment on you.
- georgieporgie 15y ago
  I've never heard of being laid off as being looked down upon. You must exist on a different Internet and reality from me. :-) Not that long ago, there was an article on HN about an internal hiring consultant (I think) telling someone that if you don't currently have a job, don't bother applying. I've heard project managers yammer on about how companies use layoffs to get rid of their least productive employees. In a down economy, when HR is faced with a flood of resumes, they start looking for simple things which give the appearance of objectivity and wisdom, which arbitrarily reduce their pile of resumes. 'Currently employed' becomes one of these criteria.
  - ARobotics 15y ago
    Add me to your other reality too. I have never heard of anyone being judged negatively for being laid off. Just about everyone understands that there may be great people laid off when an entire division/product/org gets cut or a company shrinks substantially. If you're referencing the same article(s) I've read recently, it wasn't "if you don't currently have a job, don't bother applying" it was "if someone has been unemployed for over a year, there is probably a reason". It wasn't a negative judgment on being laid off, it was making the assumption that a long period of unemployment was a signal that the person may not be very hard working or talented or whatever, and with many candidates to choose from that signal could be a deciding factor.
yumraj 15y ago
I wouldn't agree about layoff being a red-flag as long as you can explain it, at least in the silicon valley, speaking from personal experience. Layoff and bad credit history are not the same. Here companies die left and right and layoffs happen and people understand that.

dools 15y ago

Jesus that sounds horrible. So now if you default on a loan you not only lose your house but can't get a decent job, and thus cannot afford healthcare. I don't know how you guys get anything done over there I'd just spend my life ina state of perpetual paranoia.

pstack 15y ago

I've never heard of being laid off as being looked down upon. Firing, sure, but not laid off. That's beyond your control and is a business decision. If your company wipes out an entire product because of some acquisition or poor executive "vision" and decides they need to wipe out two thirds of your division, that's hardly your fault. And if they have a habit of favoring seniority, then it's even less a comment on you.

georgieporgie 15y ago
I've never heard of being laid off as being looked down upon. You must exist on a different Internet and reality from me. :-) Not that long ago, there was an article on HN about an internal hiring consultant (I think) telling someone that if you don't currently have a job, don't bother applying. I've heard project managers yammer on about how companies use layoffs to get rid of their least productive employees. In a down economy, when HR is faced with a flood of resumes, they start looking for simple things which give the appearance of objectivity and wisdom, which arbitrarily reduce their pile of resumes. 'Currently employed' becomes one of these criteria.
- ARobotics 15y ago
  Add me to your other reality too. I have never heard of anyone being judged negatively for being laid off. Just about everyone understands that there may be great people laid off when an entire division/product/org gets cut or a company shrinks substantially. If you're referencing the same article(s) I've read recently, it wasn't "if you don't currently have a job, don't bother applying" it was "if someone has been unemployed for over a year, there is probably a reason". It wasn't a negative judgment on being laid off, it was making the assumption that a long period of unemployment was a signal that the person may not be very hard working or talented or whatever, and with many candidates to choose from that signal could be a deciding factor.

yumraj 15y ago

I wouldn't agree about layoff being a red-flag as long as you can explain it, at least in the silicon valley, speaking from personal experience. Layoff and bad credit history are not the same. Here companies die left and right and layoffs happen and people understand that.