Before I joined Grab, USA’s At-will employment system left me uncomfortable. When I was impacted by layoffs, I simultaneously balanced the emotional disruption of establishing a new identity (“I was no longer Kevin that works at ___”, but “fUnemployed Kevin”) and the need to re-evaluate my finances and healthcare. A 30-day or 60-day notice would have given me a softer landing while I rebuild myself. But my experiences as a hiring manager at an international company shift my perspective on what is actually best for the employee (and the employer).

As a hiring manager, I’ve hired and said good-bye to co-workers and directs from India, Malaysia, and the USA countries in contract employment and at-will roles.

At-will in the USA

In late 2020, I wanted to leave Yelp as soon as possible. When I got a job offer from Grab, I provided Yelp the standard 2 weeks notice, last day being Friday and then Grab started me the following Monday. This rapid change had perfect timing, because my new-hire grant was priced about 40% below our IPO price a year later. Coworkers that joined during the pre-ipo period (7 months after I did) had their shares valued at ~$10 IPO price (currently trading at $4.10/ea). Most of the time, Start your vesting as soon as possible is the best strategy.

Contracted termination in Singapore

When I got my first big project at Grab, I was assigned a product manager that halfway through the project put in her 60 day notice to leave Grab. During those 60 days, you’re expected to perform your full job duties until the day you leave. Because the project was scheduled to end 2 weeks before her last day, her manager didn’t bother transitioning her responsibilities to another person. Unfortunately for me, she was visibly disengaged with her work. I wasn’t able to get the answers I needed at the rate I needed them, and thus couldn’t deliver the project on time. She effectively had 2 months of part-time labor for full time pay with her coworkers paying the price with their own careers.

Hiring in India

A coworker give a 60 day notice to leave the company. He stayed engaged until his last week, which everyone appreciated, but hiring a backfill was a hot mess. I don’t know if internal bookkeeping delayed searching for a backfill, but it wasn’t 2 months after he left did we find a replacement. Unfortunately, this replacement also had a 60 day notice they needed to give their current employer. Our group made due with a hole in our group for 4 months (2 months hiring + 2 months waiting for them to join + 1.5 months of training). 10 days before their start date, the new hire messaged the company saying their current employer gave them a raise once they saw Grab’s offer and would not be joining. With the role being potentially vacant for an additional 4 months, the manager ended up just losing the headcount.

Hiring in Malaysia

A team member in India informed me they wanted to leave the company and put in their 60 day notice. I negotiated with People Operations and my manager to terminate him immediately (but keep him on payroll for 60 days to meet the contract obligations). After my experience with the lady in Singapore, I thought a visible hole on my team would be less painful than trying to get someone that doesn’t want to be here to complete their work. I communicated to other teams that we didn’t have the bandwidth to deliver on our project commitments because he was gone.

I opted to backfill the role in Malaysia, for various reasons. After 2 months of interviewing, we found a great candidate. Unfortunately, this person also had a 2 month contract that they needed to complete, resulting in a 5 month hole on my team between one person leaving and another person coming in.

Hire and Fire

With contract employment, there is a probation period ranging from 3-6 months. During this time, the employment is practically “at-will” where the employer can terminate an employee instantly without the 60 day notice period. This system incentives companies with teams of many redundant employees (for example call centers) to “hire and fire” during that period if anything smells wrong, because if they just wait 1 day, they could be stuck with an underperformer for months.

As difficult as at-will employment might feel sometimes, it is much more efficient for the employee and the employer if they are able to leave the job when they want to leave the job. Employees maximize their engagement (and career growth) if they are able to shift onto their next chapter faster and employers can better manage