In contract law the parties can agree that they won't be liable for their own negligence. However, at least in US contract law, a party cannot disclaim responsibility for "gross negligence." It can be written into the contract, but the courts will ignore it because a party can't simply walk away from their own gross negligence. So at least in theory, there are limits. (The next question would be the difference between gross negligence and simple negligence, but I couldn't tell you so let's not go there.)
I make the point because ex-CEO of Boeing Dennis Muilenburg is directly responsible for the deaths of 346 people due to his own negligence, but he gets to walk away, not just scott free, but with the better part of $100 million in salary and stock. There may be limits, but we haven't even discovered the basic human decency to think that 346 dead people is beyond the limit. We're a long way from caring about layoffs.
And that hurts personally, because I was laid off a year ago and because I'm 61 I'm unhirable. 99 applications out the door, no interviews. In a year. It ain't the experience or the quality - my last position was the result of a manager switching companies and recruiting me to follow him for 19% more money. I'm the best of the best.....which apparently no longer matters, and in two months I'll be moving onto a friend's couch. A great end for a careers studded with accomplishments for the companies I worked for.
There's a thread here that is getting thicker. It joins islands of anger to a mainland of outrage. the question becomes, how to give it voice? There are good businesses out there, mostly ones that remain connected to founders visions, but they are swamped by the Wetiko behaviours of neofeudal corporations unconstrained by equally neofeudal political cohorts. Gen Z / Gen Alpha have had enough. It's down to us to offer them something better cling to.
The historic feeling of safety being inside the walls of a corporation or institution is crumbling, for the reasons you eloquently and passionately state Colin. The gap is what else to do if you have a family, mortgage and other commitments. There are a few things you can do as I’ve learned from hundreds of conversations with those who have done it (me included). Seems we are heading in the same direction Colin. Shall we have a long overdue chat?
this is such a sickness.
In contract law the parties can agree that they won't be liable for their own negligence. However, at least in US contract law, a party cannot disclaim responsibility for "gross negligence." It can be written into the contract, but the courts will ignore it because a party can't simply walk away from their own gross negligence. So at least in theory, there are limits. (The next question would be the difference between gross negligence and simple negligence, but I couldn't tell you so let's not go there.)
I make the point because ex-CEO of Boeing Dennis Muilenburg is directly responsible for the deaths of 346 people due to his own negligence, but he gets to walk away, not just scott free, but with the better part of $100 million in salary and stock. There may be limits, but we haven't even discovered the basic human decency to think that 346 dead people is beyond the limit. We're a long way from caring about layoffs.
And that hurts personally, because I was laid off a year ago and because I'm 61 I'm unhirable. 99 applications out the door, no interviews. In a year. It ain't the experience or the quality - my last position was the result of a manager switching companies and recruiting me to follow him for 19% more money. I'm the best of the best.....which apparently no longer matters, and in two months I'll be moving onto a friend's couch. A great end for a careers studded with accomplishments for the companies I worked for.
Enjoy Tahiti Dennis. You didn't earn it.
There's a thread here that is getting thicker. It joins islands of anger to a mainland of outrage. the question becomes, how to give it voice? There are good businesses out there, mostly ones that remain connected to founders visions, but they are swamped by the Wetiko behaviours of neofeudal corporations unconstrained by equally neofeudal political cohorts. Gen Z / Gen Alpha have had enough. It's down to us to offer them something better cling to.
Wetiko: https://www.innertraditions.com/blog/wetiko-in-a-nutshell
Maybe you, Steven Shepherd and I should catch up and share notes?
The historic feeling of safety being inside the walls of a corporation or institution is crumbling, for the reasons you eloquently and passionately state Colin. The gap is what else to do if you have a family, mortgage and other commitments. There are a few things you can do as I’ve learned from hundreds of conversations with those who have done it (me included). Seems we are heading in the same direction Colin. Shall we have a long overdue chat?