From: "Phil Payne" 

>> I was actually RIFfed by Amdahl in 1992.  One year's salary and
outplacement
>> assistance, company car retained for three months with free fuel.
>
>   That's fine for the people on the inside with jobs, because you're
> insulated from disasters.    For those on the outside looking, it's much
> harder  to get hired on than in the US.  Companies in the EU are more
> tentative about permanent hiring because
>   1.) They don't know for sure that you will turn out to be good.
>   2.)  They don't want to take on too many people, then figure out how to
> employ them during economic downturns.

I was originally head-hunted by Amdahl.  One of the most difficut companies
to get into.

The EU has local variations.  Join a German company and you will be on
"Probezeit".  Usually three months.

If it works, it becomes permanent.  If it doesn't, you part company.  There
is no stigma on either side - I've interviewed people who've come on the
market because of a Probezeit that didn't become permanent, and you just
don't ask.  Pragmatically - you can't disambiguate he said - she said.

The American habit of managing by headcount causes no end of friction in
European subsidiaries.

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