also called employment at will
An employment model, most associated with the United States, where either side can end the job at any time for almost any reason and usually without notice or severance.
At-will employment, most associated with the United States, means either side can end the job at almost any time, for almost any reason, usually without notice or severance. It is a very different default from countries where dismissing someone takes cause, notice and often a payout. It means the security a job gives you is not really about the salary, but about how easily it can vanish.
You come from a country where a job takes weeks of notice and a payout to end, and you take a US remote role expecting the same cushion. One day the company lets you go the same afternoon with nothing owed, and you realise how much of the safety you assumed simply does not exist under at-will rules.
Workers from countries with strong job protection are shocked that a US role can end the same day with nothing owed, while Americans abroad are surprised how hard it is to dismiss staff elsewhere. It shapes how much security a job actually gives you, regardless of the salary.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
These are opposite ends of job security.
At-will employment, most associated with the United States, lets either side end the job at almost any time without notice or severance, while a fixed-term employment contract runs to a set end date, as opposed to an open-ended one that continues until either side ends it.
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