Labour rules devised in the 20th century are hobbling Europe in the 21stThere are two ways for Western companies to sack lots of people. The American one involves the boss inviting hundreds of unsuspecting employees on a Zoom call, offering them a few months’ wages as severance and insincerely wishing them luck in their future endeavours (oh, and to have their desk cleared by lunchtime). The European method is more circuitous. Companies wanting to enact mass lay-offs typically start with consult...