It's worse because people don't want to hire in those countries and the conjecture here is also that layoffs are unrelated to productivity, so there is nothing you can personally do to avoid getting laid off except having a family.

So it's worse for people who are productive in their jobs.

We were approached by a French startup looking for an acquihire and well, French labor law was a big reason not to do it (not because the people at the startup weren't good, but because staffing an Eng office around them was seen as too risky).

To some extent perception is reality here; we didn't really know that much about French labor laws, but the reputation and uncertainty is the issue.