3 ms·

> As gig work expands, salaried employment status may take on a coveted and special status like citizenship in Rome or the Greek city-states Ugh, seems more li

by imgabe 8y ago

> As gig work expands, salaried employment status may take on a coveted and special status like citizenship in Rome or the Greek city-states Ugh, seems more like serfdom under a feudal lord. Gain protection in exchange for pledging fealty and giving up most of what you produce.

erikb 8y ago
In some US companies it is already like that, that citizenship is a priced good. Especially since most teams are a collection of differently sourced consultants. You rarely see any real employment besides the project manager. And yes, a lot of the stuff feels like feudalism. But from my perspective the feudalism part comes from topic ownership and titles, budget ownership and headcount more than from employment status. Of course you can't get your own budget if you are not a full-time employee, but just because you're a full-time employee doesn't mean you will ever get your own budget to manage.
crunchlibrarian 8y ago
Corporate serfdom is definitely the name for it, we're building a two tiered society of the privileged corporate few who work at Amazon, Google, etc, along with the army of lawyering professionals who protect their wealth vs everyone else. Inequality isn't new of course, but it's getting really hard to ignore.
esrauch 8y ago
The point of the article is that the salaried people get to contribute a voice to the ethical decisions being made, including how does the company act in the rest of the world. That is kind of the opposite of living under a feudal Lord: the nonsalaried employees are in that bucket (noncitizen residents in the ancient Greek analogy).
- erikpukinskis 8y ago
  How is it opposite? Serfs had a voice too, and just like in a corporation, the lord had no legal obligation to listen. Similar to a corporation, that serf could just be ejected because the lord felt like it.
  - esrauch 8y ago
    The serf metaphor is that you get protected by the Lord's army and are subservient to him. The Greek citizen model is that you have a voice in government, but you still can be kicked out or have your vote stripped.
- greymeister 8y ago
  And yet companies can completely ignore the voices of employees. This article presupposes that the employees are in a position to leverage leaving because they aren't pleased with how things are being done, and that the company cares if they leave. The feudalism metaphor is appropriate given the lack of collective bargaining power employees have access to.

by imgabe 8y ago

erikb 8y ago

In some US companies it is already like that, that citizenship is a priced good. Especially since most teams are a collection of differently sourced consultants. You rarely see any real employment besides the project manager. And yes, a lot of the stuff feels like feudalism. But from my perspective the feudalism part comes from topic ownership and titles, budget ownership and headcount more than from employment status. Of course you can't get your own budget if you are not a full-time employee, but just because you're a full-time employee doesn't mean you will ever get your own budget to manage.

crunchlibrarian 8y ago

Corporate serfdom is definitely the name for it, we're building a two tiered society of the privileged corporate few who work at Amazon, Google, etc, along with the army of lawyering professionals who protect their wealth vs everyone else. Inequality isn't new of course, but it's getting really hard to ignore.

esrauch 8y ago

The point of the article is that the salaried people get to contribute a voice to the ethical decisions being made, including how does the company act in the rest of the world. That is kind of the opposite of living under a feudal Lord: the nonsalaried employees are in that bucket (noncitizen residents in the ancient Greek analogy).

erikpukinskis 8y ago
How is it opposite? Serfs had a voice too, and just like in a corporation, the lord had no legal obligation to listen. Similar to a corporation, that serf could just be ejected because the lord felt like it.
- esrauch 8y ago
  The serf metaphor is that you get protected by the Lord's army and are subservient to him. The Greek citizen model is that you have a voice in government, but you still can be kicked out or have your vote stripped.
greymeister 8y ago
And yet companies can completely ignore the voices of employees. This article presupposes that the employees are in a position to leverage leaving because they aren't pleased with how things are being done, and that the company cares if they leave. The feudalism metaphor is appropriate given the lack of collective bargaining power employees have access to.