The aftermath of the hight-tech bubble was ugly . Many start -ups collapsed , especially those that didn't have firm business strategy. Upon collapsed, obviously their Kws were laid off (including Tuvya's son ) Major existing companies also had difficult times. Some of them , like Southwest airlines and applied materials, tried to save their Kws by reducing salaries and talking other cost - cutting measures . Others , like some aerospace companies , seized the opportunity to lay off workers . Because times are so chaotic during economic bubbles, we cannot entirely rely on them to examine conventional HR practices, but we can use the circumstances to study how relation change between KWs and their employers when times are tough . Lessons learned from the frist bubble include the culmination of a change in the psychological contract represent all of their belief about the nature of their employment relationship .