4 ms·

The creation of the typical Japanese "salaryman infrastructure" has prevented any kind of flexibility in their jobs market. I'd love to actually live there for

The creation of the typical Japanese "salaryman infrastructure" has prevented any kind of flexibility in their jobs market. I'd love to actually live there for a decent amount of time if it didn't mean making x5 less my salary in the US doing the same work.

droopyEyelids 10y ago
Hey, I don't know if you'll appreciate my little crusade, but: It's best to use a fraction when talking about a reduction in amount, and a multiplier if you're talking about an increase. For example "one fifth my salary" would be a reduction, "5x my salary" indicates a tremendous increase. Five "times" your current salary. Carry on and Happy New Year
- mikestew 10y ago
  Well, I appreciate your little crusade, as the original statement was unparseable. I allow for a little ESL when I run across such things, and I get the idea, but the statement might as well have been "a lot less than I make now" for all the sense it made.
- fuayenaha 10y ago
  "x5 less my salary" means what you think it means. If he's making $100000 a year, he'll make x - x * 5, this is, he'll have to pay his employer $400000 a year.
  - bnjms 10y ago
    This is clever though by this interpretation he will make 5 times (implied) [his salary], less his salary. Totalling four times present salary. Quite some trouble.
- snovv_crash 10y ago
  Yeah that annoyed me. I would have used 20%. The other case is when somebody uses % for something greater than unity, eg 500% instead of 5x.
  - delinka 10y ago
    Further with the percentages: "200% more" is not "2x" but many seem to write like that. "200% more" would be twice as much (200%) MORE than already existing (100%) for a final value of three times (300%) the original value.
- brian-armstrong 10y ago
  I like "5x less" as a shorthand for saying you have to apply 1/5. There's something pleasing about the idea that you don't need to change your sentence structure to say something is less rather than more, and I think in this case the intent was perfectly clear.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - kristopolous 10y ago
    "1/5" is a drop in replacement. This isn't a hard thing to do. I've seen small children do it with ease.
  - sbov 10y ago
    Usually shorthand is shorter than the alternative, but not so when comparing "5x less" to "1/5".
    - brian-armstrong 10y ago
      You would likely need to say "1/5 as much" to be grammatically and semantically correct. It doesn't flow as nicely.
SilasX 10y ago
It's my understanding that the base salary in Japan, for a salaryman at a large company, severely understates effective compensation. From patio11's classic (to me) post: >...a Japanese CEO might have a salary of 4x that of his youngest salaryman. However, he also drives a $200k car. It is not "his" car, it is the company's car, but aside from the name on the title you could be excused for not knowing that. >...My salary was $30k, but there is some tangible value in having a pocket full of business cards which practically read "Attention, person who has just been handed this card: give the bearer whatever he wants. We're good for it. If you don't, we will remember." That status is very much not the same as the one you get if you combine two part-time jobs into the same level of income. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8576008 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8576008
- raverbashing 10y ago
  Yeah, I'd rather have my perks in cash. And not have to "work" until late hours for a façade
  - WJW 10y ago
    Me too, but we do have to remember that that's probably because we were raised in societies that don't value these perks over cash. In societies where that is not the case, non-monetary perks can be many many times more valuable than abstract cash. In a previous life I was a weapons engineering officer in a western Navy. Sure, some sailors made more money when they were deployed versus me when I was on a shore assignment. But in situations from calm arguments to shouting down agressive drunk sailors, I had the upper hand just due to my rank. Even if I was wrong! Culture is a powerful thing, and it's there whether you think it's important or not.
    - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
      > Me too, but we do have to remember that that's probably because we were raised in societies that don't value these perks over cash. In societies where that is not the case, non-monetary perks can be many many times more valuable than abstract cash. Societies don't value things: they force people to pretend to value things. "Society values X" is only a valuable figure of speech as long as it actually approximates, "People in society freely value X for their own publicly understood reasons."

droopyEyelids 10y ago

Hey, I don't know if you'll appreciate my little crusade, but: It's best to use a fraction when talking about a reduction in amount, and a multiplier if you're talking about an increase. For example "one fifth my salary" would be a reduction, "5x my salary" indicates a tremendous increase. Five "times" your current salary. Carry on and Happy New Year

mikestew 10y ago
Well, I appreciate your little crusade, as the original statement was unparseable. I allow for a little ESL when I run across such things, and I get the idea, but the statement might as well have been "a lot less than I make now" for all the sense it made.
fuayenaha 10y ago
"x5 less my salary" means what you think it means. If he's making $100000 a year, he'll make x - x * 5, this is, he'll have to pay his employer $400000 a year.
- bnjms 10y ago
  This is clever though by this interpretation he will make 5 times (implied) [his salary], less his salary. Totalling four times present salary. Quite some trouble.
snovv_crash 10y ago
Yeah that annoyed me. I would have used 20%. The other case is when somebody uses % for something greater than unity, eg 500% instead of 5x.
- delinka 10y ago
  Further with the percentages: "200% more" is not "2x" but many seem to write like that. "200% more" would be twice as much (200%) MORE than already existing (100%) for a final value of three times (300%) the original value.
brian-armstrong 10y ago
I like "5x less" as a shorthand for saying you have to apply 1/5. There's something pleasing about the idea that you don't need to change your sentence structure to say something is less rather than more, and I think in this case the intent was perfectly clear.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- kristopolous 10y ago
  "1/5" is a drop in replacement. This isn't a hard thing to do. I've seen small children do it with ease.
- sbov 10y ago
  Usually shorthand is shorter than the alternative, but not so when comparing "5x less" to "1/5".
  - brian-armstrong 10y ago
    You would likely need to say "1/5 as much" to be grammatically and semantically correct. It doesn't flow as nicely.

SilasX 10y ago

It's my understanding that the base salary in Japan, for a salaryman at a large company, severely understates effective compensation. From patio11's classic (to me) post: >...a Japanese CEO might have a salary of 4x that of his youngest salaryman. However, he also drives a $200k car. It is not "his" car, it is the company's car, but aside from the name on the title you could be excused for not knowing that. >...My salary was $30k, but there is some tangible value in having a pocket full of business cards which practically read "Attention, person who has just been handed this card: give the bearer whatever he wants. We're good for it. If you don't, we will remember." That status is very much not the same as the one you get if you combine two part-time jobs into the same level of income. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8576008 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8576008

raverbashing 10y ago
Yeah, I'd rather have my perks in cash. And not have to "work" until late hours for a façade
- WJW 10y ago
  Me too, but we do have to remember that that's probably because we were raised in societies that don't value these perks over cash. In societies where that is not the case, non-monetary perks can be many many times more valuable than abstract cash. In a previous life I was a weapons engineering officer in a western Navy. Sure, some sailors made more money when they were deployed versus me when I was on a shore assignment. But in situations from calm arguments to shouting down agressive drunk sailors, I had the upper hand just due to my rank. Even if I was wrong! Culture is a powerful thing, and it's there whether you think it's important or not.
  - eli_gottlieb 10y ago
    > Me too, but we do have to remember that that's probably because we were raised in societies that don't value these perks over cash. In societies where that is not the case, non-monetary perks can be many many times more valuable than abstract cash. Societies don't value things: they force people to pretend to value things. "Society values X" is only a valuable figure of speech as long as it actually approximates, "People in society freely value X for their own publicly understood reasons."