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"I had it good and now I don't have it good and I don't know what to do about it" is a fairly formulaic structure for a human interest story, and while I really

"I had it good and now I don't have it good and I don't know what to do about it" is a fairly formulaic structure for a human interest story, and while I really loathe human suffering, it's also hard for me to sympathise with the subjects in stories such as this one. >“If you’ve worked at a large company for 10 years and get laid off, chances are your skills are six generations behind,” says Jonathan Nelson, chief executive officer of the Valley social network Hackers/Founders, which organizes meetups for startup developers. 10 years? To quote the character Samir from the film Office Space "It would be nice to have that kind of job security." I've grown up in a US workforce where staying in the same job for more than 2 years is essentially taking a pay-cut because raises / bonuses don't keep up with real-world inflation (milk & brisket, for instance). To further belabor my point, I joined the work force during a Recession, and statistics indicate my lifetime take-home (salary, benefits, etc) will be significantly lower than...well, what these folks enjoyed during their prime earning years. I won't even have a decent interest rate environment for my savings to grow without joining in the equities casino. For the life of me I have a lot of trouble feeling sorry for their plight, and wish them all the best of luck packing up their possessions, their savings, and moving to a place they can afford, like Mississippi or Indiana. As Sick Boy might say, "You had it, you lost it, and it's gone forever." Such is one theory of life.

stcredzero 10y ago
For the life of me I have a lot of trouble feeling sorry for their plight, and wish them all the best of luck packing up their possessions, their savings, and moving to a place they can afford, like Mississippi or Indiana. Someday, perhaps I might ponder whether I should feel sorry for you, and wish you the best of luck packing up your possessions, your savings, as you move to a place you can afford, like Mississippi or Indiana. A lot of 20-somethings treated me like "bantha pudu" in interviews. I can empirically say that I had never faced such unprofessional rudeness before I moved to the Bay Area. I had never had such mistaken and hasty accusations that I was lying. I had never had people simply blow me off for a phone interview. Never before have I had to try so hard to avoid negative stereotypes in a professional setting. In my time in places like Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, those things were all limited to social settings. To quote a song from the 60's, if we're all so open and progressive, why am I "picking up that funny vibe?" (To be fair, this isn't everyone in their 20's around here. But the population isn't zero by far!)
linkregister 10y ago
To counter your narrative, which I think contributes to the discussion, I believe that you are overvaluing the position of the workers who had higher salaries during the "good years." Their salaries were higher but so were their costs. When you were working during a recession, you had opportunities to invest in equities and real estate that were multiples lower in cost than in more prosperous years. Ironically, your uninformed and unwise choice to avoid equity markets in exchange for security is a great example of the shortsightedness you accuse of the 40s and 50s generation! Essentially most people are missing something and shouldn't be harshly blamed for missing it. I'm not being critical of your choice so much as using it as an example. > I've grown up in a US workforce where staying in the same job for more than 2 years is essentially taking a pay-cut You seem to ascribe a moral value toward a career tactic. There are plenty of rational reasons to frequently change jobs and plenty of rational reasons to remain in one. The "well I had to change jobs frequently" sounds a lot like "when I was your age I had to go to the library to look up information." You can see the false comparison in the latter, what about the former? > wish them all the best of luck packing up ... and moving to a place they can afford I think this is a pretty myopic statement. Most people can relocate without severe emotional stress only in their 20s or in their 60s-70s. Otherwise they are tearing their families' social bonds. Maybe you relocated as a child and were fine. The evidence points to children moving outside of their school district being highly correlated with negative outcomes (criminality, adverse academic performance, mental health issues). Absolutely the people in this situation should retrain to more in-demand skill sets. But a moral component shouldn't be added. Most of their contemporaries haven't had to retrain so it isn't as obvious as you think.
0xdeadbeefbabe 10y ago
I feel sorry to hear people think they are victims, but I'm getting older, so maybe I'm wrong, lying, or just can't remember an important issue?
jsudhams 10y ago
> >“If you’ve worked at a large company for 10 years and get laid off, chances are your skills are six generations behind,” says Jonathan Nelson, chief executive officer of the Valley social network Hackers/Founders, which organizes meetups for startup developers. I don't agree if you are moving to various jobs/teams in larger org. Definitely not true in large BFSI and Retail companies. And with they have challanges that 98% start-up would not have. There are companies with 50 to 100 applications with more than 10 million users+ and most startups wont even have capital to buy security and infrastructure items these companies buy. Choose companies in the below list which have lot of direct to consumers interaction using technology. You will 10+ years fruitful career with lot better pay (130k plus) and benefits and you will not lose out on technology if you are smart to keep moving or move to a position of SME/Architect etc..Peace of mind + time for side projects + job security etc.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_employers_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_employers_in_t...

stcredzero 10y ago

For the life of me I have a lot of trouble feeling sorry for their plight, and wish them all the best of luck packing up their possessions, their savings, and moving to a place they can afford, like Mississippi or Indiana. Someday, perhaps I might ponder whether I should feel sorry for you, and wish you the best of luck packing up your possessions, your savings, as you move to a place you can afford, like Mississippi or Indiana. A lot of 20-somethings treated me like "bantha pudu" in interviews. I can empirically say that I had never faced such unprofessional rudeness before I moved to the Bay Area. I had never had such mistaken and hasty accusations that I was lying. I had never had people simply blow me off for a phone interview. Never before have I had to try so hard to avoid negative stereotypes in a professional setting. In my time in places like Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, those things were all limited to social settings. To quote a song from the 60's, if we're all so open and progressive, why am I "picking up that funny vibe?" (To be fair, this isn't everyone in their 20's around here. But the population isn't zero by far!)

linkregister 10y ago

To counter your narrative, which I think contributes to the discussion, I believe that you are overvaluing the position of the workers who had higher salaries during the "good years." Their salaries were higher but so were their costs. When you were working during a recession, you had opportunities to invest in equities and real estate that were multiples lower in cost than in more prosperous years. Ironically, your uninformed and unwise choice to avoid equity markets in exchange for security is a great example of the shortsightedness you accuse of the 40s and 50s generation! Essentially most people are missing something and shouldn't be harshly blamed for missing it. I'm not being critical of your choice so much as using it as an example. > I've grown up in a US workforce where staying in the same job for more than 2 years is essentially taking a pay-cut You seem to ascribe a moral value toward a career tactic. There are plenty of rational reasons to frequently change jobs and plenty of rational reasons to remain in one. The "well I had to change jobs frequently" sounds a lot like "when I was your age I had to go to the library to look up information." You can see the false comparison in the latter, what about the former? > wish them all the best of luck packing up ... and moving to a place they can afford I think this is a pretty myopic statement. Most people can relocate without severe emotional stress only in their 20s or in their 60s-70s. Otherwise they are tearing their families' social bonds. Maybe you relocated as a child and were fine. The evidence points to children moving outside of their school district being highly correlated with negative outcomes (criminality, adverse academic performance, mental health issues). Absolutely the people in this situation should retrain to more in-demand skill sets. But a moral component shouldn't be added. Most of their contemporaries haven't had to retrain so it isn't as obvious as you think.

0xdeadbeefbabe 10y ago

I feel sorry to hear people think they are victims, but I'm getting older, so maybe I'm wrong, lying, or just can't remember an important issue?

jsudhams 10y ago

> >“If you’ve worked at a large company for 10 years and get laid off, chances are your skills are six generations behind,” says Jonathan Nelson, chief executive officer of the Valley social network Hackers/Founders, which organizes meetups for startup developers. I don't agree if you are moving to various jobs/teams in larger org. Definitely not true in large BFSI and Retail companies. And with they have challanges that 98% start-up would not have. There are companies with 50 to 100 applications with more than 10 million users+ and most startups wont even have capital to buy security and infrastructure items these companies buy. Choose companies in the below list which have lot of direct to consumers interaction using technology. You will 10+ years fruitful career with lot better pay (130k plus) and benefits and you will not lose out on technology if you are smart to keep moving or move to a position of SME/Architect etc..Peace of mind + time for side projects + job security etc.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_employers_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_employers_in_t...