There are countries in Asia where being a permanent employee of an organization is a very big deal. You are seen as part of a family, and while you are expected to work sometimes longer hours or give up days off, it is really not contemplated to dispose of you as times get tough.
A job means more than a paycheck and is often your social circle, your status and way of life in their culture, the law protects you accordingly.
I am not saying layoffs don’t happen, but it’s a lot harder to implement for the employer compared
to any country in Europe or the US (forget
the unions).
This is something that is not understandable for someone who only worked under a western style management, and this is the culture behind many companies in a place like Taiwan or a (very) few other nations in Asia.
This said, good luck to all of us as we’ll need it.