You want employment for life, but then want to allow the employee to have total freedom to walk away whenever he/she pleases – is that right? The reason we’ve gotten to where we are is explicitly because employees want the opportunity to go do as they please when they want. I remember back during the internet boom – employees were walking out on their corporate employers with little notice to pursue their internet dreams, running to companies like Y! Was that ok? This is exactly why we have free will employment, because that’s what the employee wanted – freedom of mobility. Now, you can’t say you want total freedom and not give the employer the same right to let the employee go at will – can you?

What makes you believe that the corporation exists for the employee? The objective of the corporation is to increase the value to its shareholders. Employees are just a means to generate profit for the corporation. If the way it goes about that is by providing employment for life – wonderful, a humanitarian benefit happened as a byproduct. However, you need to have some reprogramming to set you straight – an employee is paid for his services. The employer owes the employee nothing more than his paycheck and any other benefits agreed to. Likewise, the employee only has to provide the services being paid for. If either side is unhappy with the other, it can let the other go – no justification necessary.

DavidC

No long-term thinking. No planning ahead. No recognition that treating ones employees with respect leads to healthier bottom lines in the long run.

That this society doesn’t have life-long employment leads to instability. It also leads to a few becoming super-rich while everyone else lives from month to month with a quality of life that is far below what it could be. Company health is damaged by unfaithful employees who don’t care about a company’s future if it doesn’t align with theirs.

That “this is the way it is” attitude is exactly what leads to the economic messes we’re dealing with now, and the destroyed lives that result.

Sure, party on dude. Who cares if others are hurt – as long as I’m not! Your turn is coming.

The cost of the party is insignificant compared to the salaries and benefits provided to 1500 employees.

Though the layoffs are unfortunate, the fact of the matter is that we have something called “free will employment”. That means an employee is free to leave whenever he/she wants, and likewise the company can terminate them whenever it likes. Y! has paid its employees for their services, and beyond that, there really is no obligation whatsoever to any employee – not even providing any type of severance package upon termination.

We no longer live in an IBM, employment for life society. I think we all realize that. Sorry – that’s just the way things work these days.

No matter what the company did, you would claim it appalling. Had the company eliminated the party, or instead had a simple dinner, we’d see an article decrying the company for being so cheap.