If a company decides that because of the tough economy they are going to have to lay off employees, do you think they would start with the employees who are illegal or if they will lay off citizens who they have to pay more?When commenting on this random question, please do not use the name of any particular business.
7 comments:
What are they doing with illegal employees to begin with? I would think the "citizens" would be upset to be laid off and call the powers that be to get rid of the illegal employees...
I had a friend that worked for a privately owned company for over 25 yrs and was sure he was going to retire from that company. The owners came in one day and said, "Our son is taking your job now," and my friend was laid off, fired, whatever you want to call it. Privately owned businesses seem to get by with alot more than publicly owned businesses.
Privately owned businesses do tend to fly under the radar with the hiring of illegals. However, when it's layoff time, it could get tricky if citizens start to feel slighted.
… it would be unfortunate if a company did lay off illegals disproportionately, because they would not be able to get unemployment.
What the company should do is layoff its least productive employees first. What it will do is make a judgment as to how many "higher paid" legals it can get rid of without getting turned in to the government for employing illegals.
Just because someone is in the country illegally doesn't mean they are necessarily cheaper. The IRS has found that, contrary to popular belief, taxes are paid on behalf of 'illegals'. Further, salaries tend to be commensurate with what the market pays. They aren't being paid sub-minimum wages by any stretch nor minimum at all. The IRS even provides a generic tax ID number for employers to use, for employees who don't have social security numbers. So these 'illegals' are paying into the system.
Interestingly also, 'Illegals' are better credit risks than their legal counterparts. The default rates are far far lower.
Do abuses exist? Sure they do but it is far from the norm. That doesn't stop people from playing politics with it. 'Illegals' are not stupid. They know the market just as well as you and I. If someone is paying better, they move on.
Just for sake of argument... how do you know someone is illegal? Because they look 'mexican'? There are a lot of 'illegal' Canadians and Europeans too. So would a company lay off their 'legal' hispanic employees first out of fear that keeping them over their less productive 'white' coworkers might stoke resentments because some of those 'white' folks think the others are 'illegal'?
Mahkno, you are right. In Peoria there are many Canadians and Europeans who "don't have their paperwork in order" - illegals (I know a couple).
You pose a good question about "legal hispanic employees". They too are people just looking for a job. Unfortunately, they are in a very precarious position when it is layoff time.
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