5 ms·

Did you get in at noon? Why would you work somewhere that requires those kinds of hours? With a 90 minute commute on top of that? Not trying to be condescending

by kdamken 11y ago

Did you get in at noon? Why would you work somewhere that requires those kinds of hours? With a 90 minute commute on top of that? Not trying to be condescending, it's just that those kinds of things would be a huge motivator for me to find another job. I found a place 15 minutes from my house, and everyone in the office is gone by 5, sometimes earlier on Fridays. I hope you find a better job soon.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
shostack 11y ago
Not everyone has a great work situation. The general HN sentiment is one of finite work hours, great work conditions and great pay or people quit. In an ideal world, I love that notion. Many people here are fortunate enough to have the leverage granted by the current job market to insist on those things (or quit and walk into another better paying job the next day). Unfortunately, for those that are not engineers, or don't live somewhere with incredibly high job demand, many people take what they can get and suffer. The alternative is often losing your mortgage, not being able to pay for college, etc. There may also be other factors keeping them at that employer (particularly if they are in a rural area and there literally aren't any other options closer). So as much as I agree with you in spirit, the pragmatic part of me is wondering what will happen to people with this attitude when the economy shifts, and suddenly the job market isn't so hot anymore.
- kfk 11y ago
  Let me answer your question: they will be treated as low level engineers and they will have to suck it up or will have to go into management and work 10 hrs days. How much gets an average RoR nowadays? How much did he get when the tech was shiny new? Coding per se won't get the million $ salaries they want, it's bound to go down. Even today, they look at what the best 5% gets and they think all coders get that, most coders don't, most coders in West Europe get very average salaries. It's ludicrous to see people making the point of their perfect >40 hours job now, let's see in 5 or 10 years when the market is saturated.
- kdamken 11y ago
  While that's a fair point, I would say that you always have a choice to make. 3 years ago I was doing customer service, driving an hour both ways, and getting paid a very mediocre salary. I wasn't happy, so I taught myself to code and after a year of that got a job as a front end developer, for a lot more money and a much better commute. While I understand that everyone's situation is different, you can always try to change and improve it.

by kdamken 11y ago

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

shostack 11y ago

Not everyone has a great work situation. The general HN sentiment is one of finite work hours, great work conditions and great pay or people quit. In an ideal world, I love that notion. Many people here are fortunate enough to have the leverage granted by the current job market to insist on those things (or quit and walk into another better paying job the next day). Unfortunately, for those that are not engineers, or don't live somewhere with incredibly high job demand, many people take what they can get and suffer. The alternative is often losing your mortgage, not being able to pay for college, etc. There may also be other factors keeping them at that employer (particularly if they are in a rural area and there literally aren't any other options closer). So as much as I agree with you in spirit, the pragmatic part of me is wondering what will happen to people with this attitude when the economy shifts, and suddenly the job market isn't so hot anymore.

kfk 11y ago
Let me answer your question: they will be treated as low level engineers and they will have to suck it up or will have to go into management and work 10 hrs days. How much gets an average RoR nowadays? How much did he get when the tech was shiny new? Coding per se won't get the million $ salaries they want, it's bound to go down. Even today, they look at what the best 5% gets and they think all coders get that, most coders don't, most coders in West Europe get very average salaries. It's ludicrous to see people making the point of their perfect >40 hours job now, let's see in 5 or 10 years when the market is saturated.
kdamken 11y ago
While that's a fair point, I would say that you always have a choice to make. 3 years ago I was doing customer service, driving an hour both ways, and getting paid a very mediocre salary. I wasn't happy, so I taught myself to code and after a year of that got a job as a front end developer, for a lot more money and a much better commute. While I understand that everyone's situation is different, you can always try to change and improve it.