With cost-cutting and down­siz­ing on peo­ples’ minds, The Econ­o­mist com­pares the cost of fir­ing peo­ple around the world.

Amer­ica, New Zealand and Tonga are among the most company-friendly coun­tries, requir­ing no penal­ties or com­pen­sa­tion to fire a full-time employee of 20 years. By con­trast, a busi­ness in Zim­babwe must shell out well over eight years’ worth of pay to sack a worker. But com­pa­nies in Venezuela and Bolivia are even more tied—workers there can­not be fired at all.