are financed by employers. A firm's unemployment costs increase with each worker laid off or fired. Relationship: The problem employee may have a special relationship with the boss, which is not necessarily romantic, but the employee may be a family member or close friend, or the employee may provide other needed connections for the employer. Dependence on the employee: Despite the hardships the employee brings to the organization, the employer may find the employee useful in other ways. The employee may hold some rare knowledge or skill that is not easily replaceable. Sympathy: A sympathetic boss may feel bad about firing an employee. Culture: In some cultures, it is against the values of the employer to fire a long-serving, hard-working employee, even during an economic downturn (e.g., in Japan). Counteractions Employers have several methods of countering some of these potential threats. A common method is forced resignation, and it allows the employee to resign as if by choice, thereby freeing the employer of the burden of a firing. Other methods used by employers include: Termination by mutual agreement: The employer and employee make a joint decision to end employment. Though it may be debatable if the termination was truly mutual, the employer offers the employee a "softened firing" in order to reduce backlash. Severance package: The employee is offered some extended pay or benefits and a glowing reference in exchange for departure. In turn, the ex-employee agrees not to sue, file for unemployment, or take any other action that would hurt the employer. Demotion: The employee is moved to a lower position, their hours or pay are cut, or the working environment is made increasingly unattractive in hopes of getting the employee to depart voluntarily. In some cases, the employee is officially kept as an employee, but offered little or no work. Change of role: The employer may modify the employee's duties so the employee doesn't feel dishonored by the changes, but no longer performs the duties with which they were struggling. Unpaid leave: To avoid being fired as a cost-cutting measure, an employee may agree to take time off without pay, either spread out over a long period (e.g., taking off one day a week without pay over a year), or concentrated (e.g., taking off one month without pay). Forced resignations A forced resignation is when an employee is required to depart from their position due to some issue