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Nobody is quitting because jobs are more competitive than 5 years ago. This looks like yet another WSJ hit piece on the lower classes. The company management i

Nobody is quitting because jobs are more competitive than 5 years ago. This looks like yet another WSJ hit piece on the lower classes. The company management isn't to blame for people getting fired, it's the workers (who perform) not quitting. Those pesky workers make it so hard for a company to always look like the good guy. They really are always the good guy, obviously.

IKantRead 3y ago
I would add that this creates the problem, which I think most tech companies have forgotten about: if you try to attrition out staff and the market is competitive, you'll only attrition out your best employees. Last place I was at everyone was starting to get really frustrated with the way management was handling projects and all but one person on my team wanted to quit. The problem is that the talent on the team was largely so-so. I was the only one that found work and left, but that only served to further decrease the morale of the remaining members who felt both more trapped and now without coworkers they liked. Across the org I noticed pretty much every other team started to experience similar issues.
- voxtech 3y ago
  attritioning out staff is one of the dumbest strategies imaginable- it's not a good job when the market isn't competitive either because your highest performers are STILL going to be the first go and you can't even replace them. It never works but companies always try it and then HAVE to do a shady layoff just to rebalance their teams.
FFP999 3y ago
Guess these companies better stop spending so much on avocado toast and fancy coffees. It's hard times for everyone but I'm sure they'll manage somehow.
lloydatkinson 3y ago
WSJ can’t help but write hit pieces, I think they are paid for. Firstly workers should be grateful to waste hours of time commuting to office jobs and shouldn’t be allowed remote jobs, then the next meme is “silent quitting”, the current meme is “workers aren’t quitting enough (sub text: bosses are running out of ways to instil misery and stress)”
- FFP999 3y ago
  The WSJ writes hit pieces because they know exactly who their audience is (the business wing of the Republican party and the Republican wing of the business community) and if they didn't write hit pieces, said audience would lose interest.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - coldtea 3y ago
    Horrible bosses and cut-throat capitalist business practices are totally bipartisan.
    - FFP999 3y ago
      Fair enough, so their audience also includes the crypto-Republican wing of the Democratic party.
      - coldtea 3y ago
        >also includes the crypto-Republican wing of the Democratic party. Yeah, or, as it's better known, the Democratic Party leadership. It's just neoliberal capitalism with token social concerns as trinkets (Dems), or neoliberal capitalism with token convervative concerns as trinkets (Reps).
        FFP999 3y ago
        I see that we actually agree with each other here.
LispSporks22 3y ago
> jobs are more competitive than 5 years ago Yeah it’s this. As an assclown that recently quit without something lined up because “don’t worry honey, I’m a rock star” I’m definitely finding it harder to find a position >= last salary, similar roles this time strong. In fact salaries overall seem like of down lately (for like staff/architect/senior roles).
lainga 3y ago
After the uprising of the 17th of June The Secretary of the Writers Union Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only By increased work quotas. Would it not be easier In that case for the government To dissolve the people And elect another? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_L%C3%B6sung https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_L%C3%B6sung
Dudester230602 3y ago
"Please come back to office to have all those water cooler conversations that bring unbelievable creativity... Oh you cannot? Such a shame... Please feel free to leave."
jstarfish 3y ago
One life lesson I learned the hard way is that even if you're stuck in the most toxic workplace imaginable, never quit your job (unless you have an offer elsewhere). Fight back. Make them fire you. Don't start smearing shit on the walls or watching porn during meetings, just do the job so poorly that keeping you there is an expensive headache. I once worked for two scammers and generally try to be a good employee. Yet the workplace abuse became intolerable (wage skimming) and eventually I'd had enough, so I left without having anything else lined up. Big mistake. The recession hit, it took me a year to find another position, and the entire time I was ineligible for unemployment because I voluntarily left. If I had just said fuck you, put my feet on my desk and printed copies of random documents found on network shares all day, I could have been freed up to find a better position on their dime. Layoffs invite unemployment claims, which increases their insurance premiums. "Waaah, people aren't quitting" is a bunch of whining execs wanting to reduce headcount without the PR or financial consequence of continued layoffs. Lest we continue to wonder what the real reason behind the mandatory RTO and other recent policies designed to make working intolerable or unfeasible. Next up will be pointless bureaucracy, time-tracking, bean-counting and other inane traditionally-punitive measures employees will struggle to keep up with...the insanity of which makes people jump ship like rats fleeing the Titanic.
- riku_iki 3y ago
  > Make them fire you. Don't start smearing shit on the walls or watching porn during meetings, just do the job so poorly that keeping you there is an expensive headache. what is the point exactly in doing job poorly and make them fire you>,,
  - dave250 3y ago
    To be able to file for unemployment, and best case they give you a severance, or at minimum pay you for your vacation days. It will depend on your circumstance, but there are certainly benefits.

IKantRead 3y ago

I would add that this creates the problem, which I think most tech companies have forgotten about: if you try to attrition out staff and the market is competitive, you'll only attrition out your best employees. Last place I was at everyone was starting to get really frustrated with the way management was handling projects and all but one person on my team wanted to quit. The problem is that the talent on the team was largely so-so. I was the only one that found work and left, but that only served to further decrease the morale of the remaining members who felt both more trapped and now without coworkers they liked. Across the org I noticed pretty much every other team started to experience similar issues.

voxtech 3y ago
attritioning out staff is one of the dumbest strategies imaginable- it's not a good job when the market isn't competitive either because your highest performers are STILL going to be the first go and you can't even replace them. It never works but companies always try it and then HAVE to do a shady layoff just to rebalance their teams.

FFP999 3y ago

Guess these companies better stop spending so much on avocado toast and fancy coffees. It's hard times for everyone but I'm sure they'll manage somehow.

lloydatkinson 3y ago

WSJ can’t help but write hit pieces, I think they are paid for. Firstly workers should be grateful to waste hours of time commuting to office jobs and shouldn’t be allowed remote jobs, then the next meme is “silent quitting”, the current meme is “workers aren’t quitting enough (sub text: bosses are running out of ways to instil misery and stress)”

FFP999 3y ago
The WSJ writes hit pieces because they know exactly who their audience is (the business wing of the Republican party and the Republican wing of the business community) and if they didn't write hit pieces, said audience would lose interest.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- coldtea 3y ago
  Horrible bosses and cut-throat capitalist business practices are totally bipartisan.
  - FFP999 3y ago
    Fair enough, so their audience also includes the crypto-Republican wing of the Democratic party.
    - coldtea 3y ago
      >also includes the crypto-Republican wing of the Democratic party. Yeah, or, as it's better known, the Democratic Party leadership. It's just neoliberal capitalism with token social concerns as trinkets (Dems), or neoliberal capitalism with token convervative concerns as trinkets (Reps).
      - FFP999 3y ago
        I see that we actually agree with each other here.

LispSporks22 3y ago

> jobs are more competitive than 5 years ago Yeah it’s this. As an assclown that recently quit without something lined up because “don’t worry honey, I’m a rock star” I’m definitely finding it harder to find a position >= last salary, similar roles this time strong. In fact salaries overall seem like of down lately (for like staff/architect/senior roles).

lainga 3y ago

After the uprising of the 17th of June The Secretary of the Writers Union Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only By increased work quotas. Would it not be easier In that case for the government To dissolve the people And elect another? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_L%C3%B6sung https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_L%C3%B6sung

Dudester230602 3y ago

"Please come back to office to have all those water cooler conversations that bring unbelievable creativity... Oh you cannot? Such a shame... Please feel free to leave."

jstarfish 3y ago

One life lesson I learned the hard way is that even if you're stuck in the most toxic workplace imaginable, never quit your job (unless you have an offer elsewhere). Fight back. Make them fire you. Don't start smearing shit on the walls or watching porn during meetings, just do the job so poorly that keeping you there is an expensive headache. I once worked for two scammers and generally try to be a good employee. Yet the workplace abuse became intolerable (wage skimming) and eventually I'd had enough, so I left without having anything else lined up. Big mistake. The recession hit, it took me a year to find another position, and the entire time I was ineligible for unemployment because I voluntarily left. If I had just said fuck you, put my feet on my desk and printed copies of random documents found on network shares all day, I could have been freed up to find a better position on their dime. Layoffs invite unemployment claims, which increases their insurance premiums. "Waaah, people aren't quitting" is a bunch of whining execs wanting to reduce headcount without the PR or financial consequence of continued layoffs. Lest we continue to wonder what the real reason behind the mandatory RTO and other recent policies designed to make working intolerable or unfeasible. Next up will be pointless bureaucracy, time-tracking, bean-counting and other inane traditionally-punitive measures employees will struggle to keep up with...the insanity of which makes people jump ship like rats fleeing the Titanic.

riku_iki 3y ago
> Make them fire you. Don't start smearing shit on the walls or watching porn during meetings, just do the job so poorly that keeping you there is an expensive headache. what is the point exactly in doing job poorly and make them fire you>,,
- dave250 3y ago
  To be able to file for unemployment, and best case they give you a severance, or at minimum pay you for your vacation days. It will depend on your circumstance, but there are certainly benefits.