You absolutely owe them their wage for the time they worked. You don't owe them their job and wage for an indefinite amount of time going forward.
Re:SpaceX to lay off 10% of Workforce
by Dylan16807 on Saturday January 12, 2019 @05:07PM
(#18893544)
> There are many social contracts tied to the word 'employee'. Expectation of livable vage. Expectation of stability.
If you fire 10% of your staff every 3 or 4 years, plus 1% the other years, that means the average employee has decades of job stability. That's probably enough.
There are many social contracts tied to the word 'employee'. Expectation of livable vage. Expectation of stability. I liked the way patio11 once explained it (I think, and definitely am paraphrasing): "If you employ people and business is good, you get all of the profits and only owe them their wage. If business is bad, you still owe them their wage."
I am concerned that many companies are trying to weasel out of this unspoken contract. I remember McDonalds document specifying that they assume their employees have second jobs. Or that many game companies fire their QA teams every time a game is shipped.
Like, I get the incentive, I just don't like it.
To be honest, I wouldn't miss Tesla or Space X if it turns out they can't manage their employees.