[Ensorceled]

I think you are projecting. It's an ultimatum: "choose which company your loyalties lie with". The two times I've reached the point of delivering that ultimatum the developers showed up. If the person is not that committed they're going to be gone anyway in three to six months which is far more expensive in my experience.

That said, I've also given developers another week to wrap things up, more time because of illness and family obligations, and a couple more weeks to start when they asked because "they were still burnt out".

It's not like I throw my hands up and the first road block and shred the resume.

[JamesBarney]

I bet both of those developers were thankful they had something concrete they could go to their old job with and say "Sorry, can't do it".

[ghaff]

If they'd been around the block a few times, they'd probably have the confidence to simply say that they didn't have a choice. But for someone close to starting out, it can be nice to have someone else effectively make the decision for them.

[user5994461]

> If the person is not that committed they're going to be gone anyway in three to six months which is far more expensive in my experience.

If the person wants to stay to finish one thing -despite the terrible workplace-, that's actually a major display of [misplaced] commitment.