I'm a simple emigrant and protected as a worker

I recently read an interesting article about how the economy will change if neural networks and agents “leave us all without work,” and I was glad to live in Germany. And to confirm my hypothesis, I looked at what specific social obligations exist here for businesses. First, in Germany you don’t get fired in one day for a very weighty reason. You can’t just walk up to an employee and say, well, from tomorrow your job will be done by an algorithm, you don’t need to come. Any dismissal initiated by the company must be socially justified. Even if the position is automated, the employer must try to transfer you to another role. But if the dismissal is inevitable, a social selection begins: they will fire the least vulnerable, so we rush to take out mortgages and have five children! Second, in medium and large German companies there is almost always a Works Council. It can simply impose a veto on the introduction of any technologies that monitor employee behavior or change workflows. The Council can force the company to sign a 'Social Plan' with guarantees not to lay off because of the new technology in the coming years. Third. As of August 2, a new rule of the EU AI Act comes into force: robots cannot fire people. As if we didn’t have enough unscrupulous HR people (we love the conscientious ones, what would we do without you!), lately I’ve been seeing AI systems as the first filter more and more. But now it will be forbidden to leave an employee’s fate to a machine. AI, of course, can give recommendations, but the final decision is made by a person who bears legal liability for it. If you were still fired, you can go to court with the words “I didn’t negotiate!”. The German court, most likely, will prioritize preserving the job. For example, the company is expected to send the employee to upgrade their skills so they become an AI operator or move to more creative tasks. And the last resort, when the layoff affects entire departments – you won’t be shown the door with a ficus and a stapler into the cold! Companies will have to pay severance, and not only to favorites. Also, if the crisis is temporary, the state offers reduced working hours. That’s how it was during COVID: people worked less, the company paid only for actually worked hours, and the government compensated the wage difference from the unemployment fund (up to 87% of full salary), just to keep people in their jobs. I understand that this is a huge burden for businesses. But mostly this concerns large corporations that can afford it. And I’m simply glad that people here have rights, and companies are forced to think not only about maximizing profits but also about their employees. And what do you think? Will people benefit from this in the long run or will German rules choke innovation? #work #Ordnung #useful