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A major factor in this is that a large swath of the tech industry doesn't treat their job as a job, or their company as an employer. The blending of work and pe

A major factor in this is that a large swath of the tech industry doesn't treat their job as a job, or their company as an employer. The blending of work and personal lives, lack of unionization, lack of any sort of professional ethics codes, standards of quality or real regulation — despite the fact that in many cases we're building critical digital infrastructure. Tech and startup culture gets romanticized as this kind of extended hackathon, but in reality we're the means of production for one of the richest and most powerful industries in the world. Edit: spelling.

tudorconstantin 9y ago
As long as I'm happy at work (relaxed, having reasonable deadlines, being paid outstandingly), I don't mind being the mean of production of some wealthy people. And I actually appreciate the tricks they pull (team buildings, building a community, making me feel at home, etc) to make me more productive as long as they also make me happier.
- chrisco255 9y ago
  Agreed. The alternative is a dreary place to work that you can't wait to leave each day.
- kiliantics 9y ago
  It's easy to feel this way while the going is good and your job seems certain. But unions can make the security of your job guaranteed and can help those who may not be in as fortunate a position as you and are more subject to exploitative practices. Your comment just smacks of "I've got mine, screw the others" but unless you're the person on the very top, you could become one of those others at any time.
  - tudorconstantin 9y ago
    No job is certain. I do my best to make it as certain as possible by trying to make the company as profitable as possible. No union in the world is able to save the jobs in a bankrupt company, no matter what they tell you. Sure, they can try to blackmail and force the employer's hand from time to time, as long as the company can survive, but I'd rather get my salary increases because I was more productive, then to get them because somebody used me in a blackmail deal. What do you suggest, that I'm privileged because I'm doing my job properly and that I have some sort of social responsibility for the incompetent and the lazy in the company?
k__ 9y ago
I don't see it like that, but I got in this whole coding stuff because I liked doing it in my free time. It's important to me and I can't see it as a regular job, but a whole life experience. Don't know why...
- albertgoeswoof 9y ago
  When you get bored of programming (or have other things to deal with, eg family, illness, life etc) and still need a job to pay your bills you won’t see it as a whole life experience anymore
  - k__ 9y ago
    True. I was never much of a family man.
- jakelazaroff 9y ago
  I got into it for the same reason! As another commenter mentioned, this isn't a bad thing — it's considering the lack of side work a negative signal that's bad. It's great that tech is fun for people, and we should encourage that! What we shouldn't do is marginalize people who won't — or can't — devote the same amount of time and energy to it outside their 9-to-5.

tudorconstantin 9y ago

As long as I'm happy at work (relaxed, having reasonable deadlines, being paid outstandingly), I don't mind being the mean of production of some wealthy people. And I actually appreciate the tricks they pull (team buildings, building a community, making me feel at home, etc) to make me more productive as long as they also make me happier.

chrisco255 9y ago
Agreed. The alternative is a dreary place to work that you can't wait to leave each day.
kiliantics 9y ago
It's easy to feel this way while the going is good and your job seems certain. But unions can make the security of your job guaranteed and can help those who may not be in as fortunate a position as you and are more subject to exploitative practices. Your comment just smacks of "I've got mine, screw the others" but unless you're the person on the very top, you could become one of those others at any time.
- tudorconstantin 9y ago
  No job is certain. I do my best to make it as certain as possible by trying to make the company as profitable as possible. No union in the world is able to save the jobs in a bankrupt company, no matter what they tell you. Sure, they can try to blackmail and force the employer's hand from time to time, as long as the company can survive, but I'd rather get my salary increases because I was more productive, then to get them because somebody used me in a blackmail deal. What do you suggest, that I'm privileged because I'm doing my job properly and that I have some sort of social responsibility for the incompetent and the lazy in the company?

k__ 9y ago

I don't see it like that, but I got in this whole coding stuff because I liked doing it in my free time. It's important to me and I can't see it as a regular job, but a whole life experience. Don't know why...

albertgoeswoof 9y ago
When you get bored of programming (or have other things to deal with, eg family, illness, life etc) and still need a job to pay your bills you won’t see it as a whole life experience anymore
- k__ 9y ago
  True. I was never much of a family man.
jakelazaroff 9y ago
I got into it for the same reason! As another commenter mentioned, this isn't a bad thing — it's considering the lack of side work a negative signal that's bad. It's great that tech is fun for people, and we should encourage that! What we shouldn't do is marginalize people who won't — or can't — devote the same amount of time and energy to it outside their 9-to-5.