[willcipriano]

Flip the situation around so you can emphasize more easily.

Let's say your employee walks up and they tell you that "my life situation is uncertain going forward, my ability to deliver on my end of this bargain may be limited and outside of my control."

On the other hand you have the resume of someone you can hire, they are willing to agree to a contract where they will deliver more productivity than the previous employee, problem is you can only employ one of them.

If feeding your family depended on the productivity of the person in that role, who do you go with?