I worked in tech (DAX company) in Germany for almost a decade and we were unionized. I'd say the union was one of the main reasons why we didn't have mass layo

I worked in tech (DAX company) in Germany for almost a decade and we were unionized. I'd say the union was one of the main reasons why we didn't have mass layoffs when the company was in a hard spot. Instead more acceptable options like part-time and voluntary resignation with exit packages were negotiated and still met similar cost saving goals. In small shops you probably won't have a union but they don't tend to hire&fire like the big multinationals.