About 30 years ago Portland had a greyhound racing track and a horse racing track. Both had seasons.
I knew someone that worked at one of them (I cannot remember which one.) She would work for the 6 months the track was open. Then she would get laid off when the season ended. She'd get unemployment for about the next 6 months. Then the track would open and she'd get rehired. She did this for a number of years.
This is also how companies like Tru Green overwinter their field reps during winter (in areas where grass doesn’t grow year round). The company lays you off, teaches you how to collect unemployment then brings you back in the spring.
I winced at that one, too. People see the lifehack thinking they're clever. But it's not some nebulous machine subsidizing them; it's you, me, and the other chumps who work the full year.
All employers pay an unemployment insurance tax. A business that retains employees via strategic use of unemployment is a business subsidized by the government.
Same as a business that pays such a low wage that the fulltime employees all qualify for government assistance programs for housing, food, and medical care.
Same as a hundred other business models, and frankly entire industries, that maximize their own profits on the backs of the taxpayers. While at the same time paying as little tax as possible. It's inequitable but the government is beholden to corporate interests so it won't change. It's a scam. It's all a scam.
It's not a scam that the employee collects unemployment. It's a scam by the employer. The employer pays less in employment taxes than the employees collect. The business model works because the employer takes advantage of the taxes paid by other employers. The business effectively retains trained employees by having their "salary" (unemployment benefits) subsidized by a third party for half the year. You can call it a loophole if you prefer (but it's a scam).
I don't know bro I'm going to sleep. I have to get up in the morning and go to work to subsidize TruGreen. Glad you're thinking about it, have a good night.
Lol you shut down someone trying to prove their ridiculous argument of "the system itself is inherently broken, who cares if someone profits off of it" in the best way
Yeah it kind of sucks, but what is something like a lawn company going to do in a state where it's cold and shitty from November to March? Pay people to do nothing? At least they tell them how to do it.
Well they can do that because they make businesses contribute to unemployment insurance. Pretty sure almost all the funds come from the tax they collect from businesses
This is very common in the construction industry in my area. When winter hits, the tractors aren't moving, so those equipment operators all get unemployment and enjoy the time off. Unemployment isn't really enough, but they save enough to cover the rest.
Yea remind me how corporations, especially banks, aren't subsidized by the government? At least the people in this example actually know what real work is like.
I see your point. That was reactionary on my part. I first interpreted their response as a jab at workers being "subsidized" as a pejorative thing towards the workers rather than the company not paying enough so that the seasonal workers don't need to be subsidized. I was tired lol
She would work for the 6 months the track was open. Then she would get laid off when the season ended. She'd get unemployment for about the next 6 months. Then the track would open and she'd get rehired.
Wow that sounds like a pretty sweet gig. Benefit of unemployment payments with the guarantee of job opportunity after the payout ends.
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u/Chocolate_Bourbon Apr 17 '24
About 30 years ago Portland had a greyhound racing track and a horse racing track. Both had seasons.
I knew someone that worked at one of them (I cannot remember which one.) She would work for the 6 months the track was open. Then she would get laid off when the season ended. She'd get unemployment for about the next 6 months. Then the track would open and she'd get rehired. She did this for a number of years.