Something similar came up in another HN comment thread I was in a few months ago -- someone hired at senior level, but ended up only having junior level skills.
The root issue, imho, is there's no accepted corporate method of demoting an employee (in the US).
Which is unfortunate, because it would benefit both the company (who retains someone with training and familiarity) and the employee (who isn't fired).
"Lower expectations for lower money" shouldn't be verboten, but it is.
> there's no accepted corporate method of demoting an employee (in the US)
Legally or culturally?
Where I live (Europe), seems it's legally prohibited, sort of, to lower someone's salary, if the employee doesn't agree (which maybe is obvious, there's a job contract agreement after all). The company would need to fire and rehire the person at a lower salary, but firing people isn't easy.
> constructive dismissal ... generally ... grants [the employee] the right to pursue claims against the employer.
> once agreed upon, wages are implicitly locked in by the common-law of contract as an essential term of the employment relationship. In this regard, it is a constructive dismissal if ...
(That last section is about the UK, I suppose it's the same in the US.)
The root issue, imho, is there's no accepted corporate method of demoting an employee (in the US).
Which is unfortunate, because it would benefit both the company (who retains someone with training and familiarity) and the employee (who isn't fired).
"Lower expectations for lower money" shouldn't be verboten, but it is.