I recently got offered a job with a guy I worked with in a previous job. I knew him and our personal relationship factored into this but I wanted to tell my story to give some people some hope in this dystopia nightmare.
I received a message from the hiring manager saying that he saw my resume on ziprecruiter. He wanted to interview but he didn't want to inconvenience me so he insisted he buy me dinner at a Panera near my house and we could talk there. (Definitely out of the norm but still nice.)
He straight up told me what he was offering salary wise and it was right around my asking price. No bs, no back and forth, no having to convince myself to take a lower offer because it is closer to where I live.
Here is the best part. They are giving the person I am replacing two weeks notice. They are allowed to interview during working hours no questions asked. They don't have to stay the full two weeks, but they are getting paid regardless in addition to severance.
I'm really happy I'm going to be working with someone that seems to have integrity. I'm hoping it goes well. Just wanted to put this out there because as much as I approve calling out the shitty employers (I'm looking at you Kroeger and apparently Petsmart), knowing there are less shitty ones out there makes me feel better about putting myself out into the economy and that maybe there are people who might be willing to support our cause for more nonexploitative working conditions.
Edit: Based on some comments I wanted to add a few more details for clarity. The person I am taking over for was going to be let go anyways. From what I understand, her performance wasn't poor, but the company is expanding rapidly and they want to change the position to include an analytical skillset she doesn't have.