4 ms·

Pixar CEO Ed Catmull was a huge inspiration to me, and it was disappointing that he also participated in the collusion. His book on the Pixar team has a lot of

Pixar CEO Ed Catmull was a huge inspiration to me, and it was disappointing that he also participated in the collusion. His book on the Pixar team has a lot of useful info, but it's interesting to read it knowing about the collusion to depress salaries. All I can say is humans are good at compartmentalization. Once some tactic becomes commonplace in an industry, insiders don't even consider it shady any more. We all need to get paid, and as long as we're not the worst offenders, then at least we're not as bad as those other guys, right?

mnglkhn2 11y ago
Not that I am ok with it, but the collusion is a double edged sword. Let me explain myself: On one hand it is bad that the employee gets less than the market and the company is willing to pay. And that should absolutely be corrected somehow. On the other hand, now that the salaries have exploded in SV, you can see the transfer happening towards the real estate owners. I can bet on it, that if the salaries go down, the real estate in SV/SF will take a hit. So. the business owner has to face this: if I let the salaries go up, then it will be difficult to bring in entry level people since they won't be able to enter the market. And they'll have to go with shared apartments and other similar arrangements, which is untenable in the long run. Plus, it is not sure the employee will be able to retain much of that salary increase. I know, it sounds paternalistic for the employer to think this and maybe it is better to let the market settle the current salaries/living costs tussle. But my argument is that maybe Catmull had other considerations aside from the business bottom line. The employee pipeline is actually more important.
- newjersey 11y ago
  Silicon Valley has to take a lead when it comes to working remotely. At the very least, let the well paid people work from a list of co-working spaces around the country or something if renting an office in Portland, Oregon or New York, NY is a problem and you won't have people working from home.
  - imglorp 11y ago
    Yes, this. Which startup ought to be spending millions just maintaining a hip SF office instead of executing their plan, hiring good people, and making product? Of all industries, you'd think this one would have shed the old school, suit and tie, butt-in-chair HR mentality?
    - newjersey 11y ago
      Perhaps they might need one or two people in SV to be in contact with VC people or something. I've never worked in a startup and so I can't tell you about the dreaded f word that ends in ing (funding). But should everyone be in SV? BTW, how does one go about finding a developer job (not a senior role, have work experience in .NET but I'm willing to do something new) in New York City? I feel like I don't have the connections I need to land a job here. I have a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Computer Science if that helps.
      - pigscantfly 11y ago
        The monthly 'Who's Hiring' thread from yesterday could be a good place to start, especially if you're interested in trying out a startup job. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11202954 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11202954
        newjersey 11y ago
        Thanks but I'm not qualified for anything in NYC ... At least from the responses I've gotten so far
    - harryf 11y ago
      If you read Eric Schmidts book "How Google Works" one of the main tenets is you need people working together in one physical location.
- munin 11y ago
  > the business owner has to face this: if I let the salaries go up, then it will be difficult to bring in entry level people since they won't be able to enter the market Get real, no one was thinking that way.
samstave 11y ago
I was tech designer for the Letterman Digital arts center in Presidio... Lucas' companies were all merging to one campus. They later came to me to talk about setting up a design studio in Singapore... the quote from the CIO to me at the time was "Why pay these prima donna salaries for animators here in the states when I can get animators in singapore for $20K per year?"
- JabavuAdams 11y ago
  Yup, I want a make art button too. Globalization is coming for all of our jobs. If we can just make it so that AI gets our jobs first, then maybe the AI will take care of us, 'cause the market sure won't.
  - sangnoir 11y ago
    > If we can just make it so that AI gets our jobs first, then maybe the AI will take care of us That's not how 'Capitalism' (as currently practised) works - the owners of the AI reap the benefits and avoid paying taxes while certainly not taking care of you, why would Walmart AI or Disney AI care about plebs like you? > Globalization is coming for all of our jobs As a 3rd worlder, I say it's about time. It's unjust to have the world as your market without having to compete against everyone else. Maybe you should hire whoever is lobbying for American farmers because their subsidies are destroying farming elsewhere.
    - JabavuAdams 11y ago
      > That's not how 'Capitalism' (as currently practised) works - the owners of the AI reap the benefits and avoid paying taxes while certainly not taking care of you, why would Walmart AI or Disney AI care about plebs like you? JabaAI would take care of the plebs. JabaAI loves plebs. I mean wonderful, wonderful people. JabaAI loves them. And everyone loves JabaAI. Because JabaAI is worth a lot of money. JabaAI is success. I hear it every day: "JabaAI, we love you."
- eru 11y ago
  In general, Singapore has some of the highest salaries worldwide.

mnglkhn2 11y ago

Not that I am ok with it, but the collusion is a double edged sword. Let me explain myself: On one hand it is bad that the employee gets less than the market and the company is willing to pay. And that should absolutely be corrected somehow. On the other hand, now that the salaries have exploded in SV, you can see the transfer happening towards the real estate owners. I can bet on it, that if the salaries go down, the real estate in SV/SF will take a hit. So. the business owner has to face this: if I let the salaries go up, then it will be difficult to bring in entry level people since they won't be able to enter the market. And they'll have to go with shared apartments and other similar arrangements, which is untenable in the long run. Plus, it is not sure the employee will be able to retain much of that salary increase. I know, it sounds paternalistic for the employer to think this and maybe it is better to let the market settle the current salaries/living costs tussle. But my argument is that maybe Catmull had other considerations aside from the business bottom line. The employee pipeline is actually more important.

newjersey 11y ago
Silicon Valley has to take a lead when it comes to working remotely. At the very least, let the well paid people work from a list of co-working spaces around the country or something if renting an office in Portland, Oregon or New York, NY is a problem and you won't have people working from home.
- imglorp 11y ago
  Yes, this. Which startup ought to be spending millions just maintaining a hip SF office instead of executing their plan, hiring good people, and making product? Of all industries, you'd think this one would have shed the old school, suit and tie, butt-in-chair HR mentality?
  - newjersey 11y ago
    Perhaps they might need one or two people in SV to be in contact with VC people or something. I've never worked in a startup and so I can't tell you about the dreaded f word that ends in ing (funding). But should everyone be in SV? BTW, how does one go about finding a developer job (not a senior role, have work experience in .NET but I'm willing to do something new) in New York City? I feel like I don't have the connections I need to land a job here. I have a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Computer Science if that helps.
    - pigscantfly 11y ago
      The monthly 'Who's Hiring' thread from yesterday could be a good place to start, especially if you're interested in trying out a startup job. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11202954 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11202954
      - newjersey 11y ago
        Thanks but I'm not qualified for anything in NYC ... At least from the responses I've gotten so far
  - harryf 11y ago
    If you read Eric Schmidts book "How Google Works" one of the main tenets is you need people working together in one physical location.
munin 11y ago
> the business owner has to face this: if I let the salaries go up, then it will be difficult to bring in entry level people since they won't be able to enter the market Get real, no one was thinking that way.

samstave 11y ago

I was tech designer for the Letterman Digital arts center in Presidio... Lucas' companies were all merging to one campus. They later came to me to talk about setting up a design studio in Singapore... the quote from the CIO to me at the time was "Why pay these prima donna salaries for animators here in the states when I can get animators in singapore for $20K per year?"

JabavuAdams 11y ago
Yup, I want a make art button too. Globalization is coming for all of our jobs. If we can just make it so that AI gets our jobs first, then maybe the AI will take care of us, 'cause the market sure won't.
- sangnoir 11y ago
  > If we can just make it so that AI gets our jobs first, then maybe the AI will take care of us That's not how 'Capitalism' (as currently practised) works - the owners of the AI reap the benefits and avoid paying taxes while certainly not taking care of you, why would Walmart AI or Disney AI care about plebs like you? > Globalization is coming for all of our jobs As a 3rd worlder, I say it's about time. It's unjust to have the world as your market without having to compete against everyone else. Maybe you should hire whoever is lobbying for American farmers because their subsidies are destroying farming elsewhere.
  - JabavuAdams 11y ago
    > That's not how 'Capitalism' (as currently practised) works - the owners of the AI reap the benefits and avoid paying taxes while certainly not taking care of you, why would Walmart AI or Disney AI care about plebs like you? JabaAI would take care of the plebs. JabaAI loves plebs. I mean wonderful, wonderful people. JabaAI loves them. And everyone loves JabaAI. Because JabaAI is worth a lot of money. JabaAI is success. I hear it every day: "JabaAI, we love you."
eru 11y ago
In general, Singapore has some of the highest salaries worldwide.