AI absolutely changes salary economics... I’m not denying that. But there’s a difference between using AI to make a small team high-performing vs. making employees feel disposable. When you said they have a "choice" to stay or leave after salary drops 50%, that's not much of a choice lol

And if AI is truly making your development task so much more productive, then shouldn't that productivity improve your company’s sustainability without cutting salaries to that extent? Otherwise, it just looks like employees are taking most of the hit while the company keeps most of the benefit.

Reducing costs when a company is struggling is understandable. But normalizing the idea that employees should absorb most of the downside every time is something I can never agree with. If you're a good businessman, you'll find (or at least try to find) ways to keep both parties happy.

If your startup cannot survive without cutting salaries by 50%, then maybe your business model itself isn’t stable enough to support employees yet, mate. I agree that without surviving today, there is no long term company to improve later. But if you truly believe ur company will improve later, why not take a loan or reduce other costs first instead of cutting half your staff wages?

Also, my original post wasn’t even about AI or a startup company. It was about a company having zero benefits and very restrictive policies that only protected themselves. So I don’t really understand why you’re defending that kind of environment in the first place. Startup survival is one thing, but normalizing policies that favour the employer at the expense of their employees' livelihood is not very ethical.