I saw this on blind today. As you might have heard, Snap which owns Snapchat, had layoffs yesterday.
This chap quit his job, uprooted his life, moved across the country to join Snap.... and then got laid off in a week. He won't get much severance for a 7 day job but he has expenses of uprooting and moving.

My questions to the folks here are:

1. Does this person deserve any protection at all? Or do we chalk it down to "too bad.. sucks to be you" and move on?
2. If you think he deserves protection, then who should it be from? If you say get unemployment, it would be mostly on the taxpayer's dime. Should there be minimum corporate penalties for this kind of situation?
3. Should these companies be allowed to file for H1B? If not, should there be a some rule against companies not being allowed to file for H1B for a certain period if they lay off over x% of their company?


Keep in mind that this could happen to you or your kids so answer accordingly. My personal experience is I have been laid off 5 weeks after I joined a company in a 33% corporate layoff, in 2001. It was in my town so no moving was involved. One person in that same layoff got impacted after 3 days on the job.

too many caveats for me:

- are you on a visa or citizen ?
- was it a scheduled rif ?


if you hire a citizen and RFI them within 6 months (in a RIF you had pre-planned) you deserve to pay.


not a citizen ... too bad. showed up late or drank on job ... too bad.

backintexas2013 said:

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Why would he uproot his life if he didn't get moving expenses? Seems strange to me. Way too much missing information.

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My guess is that:

• He wasn't that attached to where he was living before.
• Snap was offering a lot more money than his previous job.
• He assumed that moving expenses wouldn't be a big deal because the raise would pay for it shortly. Just not on the one-week timescale.

YouBet said:

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That sucks but LIFO happens quite a bit. Social media apps can live and die a very quick life so that was always a risky move.

Not sure why him being Chinese is relevant to his post.

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Or why the CEO being at Coachella matters.
Should have been at a church instead?

This would have been a red flag for me but I also don't move on a whim. This is coming from someone who loves to move and does often because I like challenges but I still do my homework and moving costs are always part of it.

There's definitely more to this story than what's being presented. wtf does being Chinese have to do with anything? Reads like a socialist fan fic.

Depending on state laws where he moved to and what he actually agreed to in writing, he may have civil recourse. If he has a written agreement that he feels was violated, he should engage an attorney that specializes in employment law and see if a lawsuit is viable.

deddog said:

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YouBet said:

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That sucks but LIFO happens quite a bit. Social media apps can live and die a very quick life so that was always a risky move.

Not sure why him being Chinese is relevant to his post.

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Or why the CEO being at Coachella matters.
Should have been at a church instead?

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Dude gets a 5x raise which is a very high outlier and then complains about CEO's social life. I realize he's bitter, but definitely irrelevant. Also, it's Coachella. Anyone can go to it. It's not like the guy was sitting next to the Princess at Wimbledon Center Court.

I went to eat Mexican food last weekend and fired someone on Monday. Really makes you think.

backintexas2013 said:

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I went to eat Mexican food last weekend and fired someone on Monday. Really makes you think.

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Regarding Coachella, this Chinese guy should take some solace that his CEO got played too: My wife told me that Justin Beiber apparently performed at this and it was going to be a big deal because I guess he hasn't done a concert in a long time. And then he comes out on stage and proceeded to just watch videos on YT while on stage. So the crowd got to watch him watching YT videos.

LOL.

• He's Chinese
• CEO wore a bandana

Perhaps the dude got there and sucked so the company cut bait right away, which they have the right to do. That or it's really poor communication within the company to have a hiring manager bring someone on board not knowing upper management is about to swing down with a big RIF requirement.

WTF is "blind"?

All I know is it's not the government's job to get involved here. If he feels like the terms of his contract were violated then to it up with the courts.

If this guy was dumb enough to uproot his family and move them across the country without protecting himself contractually, then he's getting screwed by his own poor decisions.

That being said we should gulag the CEO to be certain, am I right?

jt2hunt said:

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Doesn't that kind of depend on what his employment agreement was with that company?

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Most people are at-will employment. You show up, you get a paycheck. You are free to leave any time you like, but likewise the company can let you go any time they like.

ELOOOOONNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!

nm

RIFs don't generally happen overnight. There's usually weeks or months of planning and behind the scenes employee reviews, not to mention an associated hiring freeze. If this guy was fired after a week, I'm inclined to think it was likely performance related.

Or it was related to a prank involving pee pee and a Coke.

When you go to work for a company that is large and is public, you should know that there is a risk. That kind of company the benefits and pay are usually higher, but you also have other risks involved. That risk is you are an employee number and a cog in a system. When it is deemed that the system needs to change, as it often does, your particular cog number may not be needed.

It should be part of the risk/reward calculus of the job seeker. Their well being is the responsibility of themselves, not of their employer.

BigRobSA said:

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WTF is "blind"?

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a circle jerk

Quote:

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"too bad.. sucks to be you" and move on?

Yes

Keep in mind that this could happen to you or your kids

Yes, we know.

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Why is this post even a question?

backintexas2013 said:

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This would have been a red flag for me but I also don't move on a whim. This is coming from someone who loves to move and does often because I like challenges but I still do my homework and moving costs are always part of it.

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there are plenty of reasons people would not insist on moving costs:

1. they want to move from their current location and were planning on moving to a place they want to be

2. their new salary will be higher than the current salary and pay for it

3. there may have been a signing bonus

4. you want an opportunity to get your foot in the door with this new company which is a great future potential

backintexas2013 said:

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I think it's a combination of the CEO, boomers, and possibly the Jews. The triple whammy

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Don't forget too many H1Bs.

I'd think it would be best to commute a little while before committing to a major move.