March 25, 2005 8:21 AM

Will your company be there for you?
Posted by Jason Butlerat 8:21 AM

You find out the strength of your relationships when times are bad. Is your friend there when you need him? Is he willing to sacrifice at all for the long-term benefit of the relationship? We've all had friends who let us down at the big moment. For most of us, we no longer count those people as friends.

But what about potential employers? We take jobs for the money, for power, for the ability to do something interesting. Have you ever taken a job based on a company's integrity, how it will react in times of adversity?

John Porcaro was recently in the hospital for burns, and he contrasts Microsoft's response to that of his 9-year-old roommate's father's company.

Just after they moved in, I heard the boy's father on the phone with his company.  He was asking his boss for two things: 1) for two weeks vacation to help take care of his son; and 2) access to his retirement account (401k) funds to help with medical bills.  His company flatly denied both requests.  Because he was two weeks shy of being there a full year, he was told he had no accrued vacation.  They told him if he took any time off, he'd be fired.