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Your employer doesn’t need you to buy food or pay for a roof over their head. You need your employer to stay fed and housed. There is a lot more downside for

Your employer doesn’t need you to buy food or pay for a roof over their head. You need your employer to stay fed and housed. There is a lot more downside for you than your employer, thus a massive power asymmetry. The only way to restore the balance is solidarity between workers and it’s usually a union (or a guild)

WJW 2y ago
Get some financial discipline and arrange an emergency fund covering at least 6 months of expenses. It's amazing how much less leverage your employer is able to exert if you can make good on a threat of leaving.
- ornornor 2y ago
  Or you could have leverage from a union and not have to seriously consider quitting every time you need something from your employer.
- goodpoint 2y ago
  > It's amazing how much less leverage your employer is able to exert if you can make good on a threat of leaving. Look how well it worked for the mass layoffs.
nosefurhairdo 2y ago
I don't need my employer for that either, because they're competing for my labor in a market with many other employers. It would be extremely costly to replace me because of the critical role I have on a highly profitable product. If anything, I'm the one with leverage, which I use every year to request more pay, fancier titles, and larger responsibilities. Realistically, if I were laid off today I'd likely land a better paying job than this one. I choose to stay because I like my boss, my work, and my coworkers. If circumstances changed such that it made sense to lay me off then I should be laid off. Why should anyone be obligated to pay my salary if I'm not offering commensurate value?
- ornornor 2y ago
  Good for you. You’d still have all that and even more leverage with a union. And so would all your fellow SEs instead of only you.
- saagarjha 2y ago
  > It would be extremely costly to replace me because of the critical role I have on a highly profitable product. > If circumstances changed such that it made sense to lay me off Companies don't always do things that make sense.

WJW 2y ago

Get some financial discipline and arrange an emergency fund covering at least 6 months of expenses. It's amazing how much less leverage your employer is able to exert if you can make good on a threat of leaving.

ornornor 2y ago
Or you could have leverage from a union and not have to seriously consider quitting every time you need something from your employer.
goodpoint 2y ago
> It's amazing how much less leverage your employer is able to exert if you can make good on a threat of leaving. Look how well it worked for the mass layoffs.

nosefurhairdo 2y ago

I don't need my employer for that either, because they're competing for my labor in a market with many other employers. It would be extremely costly to replace me because of the critical role I have on a highly profitable product. If anything, I'm the one with leverage, which I use every year to request more pay, fancier titles, and larger responsibilities. Realistically, if I were laid off today I'd likely land a better paying job than this one. I choose to stay because I like my boss, my work, and my coworkers. If circumstances changed such that it made sense to lay me off then I should be laid off. Why should anyone be obligated to pay my salary if I'm not offering commensurate value?

ornornor 2y ago
Good for you. You’d still have all that and even more leverage with a union. And so would all your fellow SEs instead of only you.
saagarjha 2y ago
> It would be extremely costly to replace me because of the critical role I have on a highly profitable product. > If circumstances changed such that it made sense to lay me off Companies don't always do things that make sense.