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Thanks to covid, I have experienced how it must be to not have fu money. I'm not entirely sure why, but many companies are now hoping to take advantage of the

Thanks to covid, I have experienced how it must be to not have fu money. I'm not entirely sure why, but many companies are now hoping to take advantage of the rise in unemployment by trying to lock in highly skilled workers at a low salary. The way those job offers were presented, it seemed like they were feeling like my savior in a shining armor for offering job openings in these challenging times. But they were asking for lots of experience, unpaid overtime, yet offered less than what I currently make for part-time. Their main argumentation point was that it's better to be underpaid than to be unemployed. I assume that that's how most people who don't have fu money are treated, because they are not in a situation that allows them to negotiate. But of course, accepting such an offer might prevent you from accumulating a safety deposit in the future. Maybe the best way is to go with Aladdin: If you don't have anything, act like you own everything.

ChuckNorris89 6y ago
Just take whatever job you can o pay your bills and jump ship when the pandemic is over and you can find a better paying job.
- mdavis6890 6y ago
  More generally - take the best job you can, then keep looking and take a better job when you find one. Hopefully you'll end up looking a long time before you find a better one (meaning that your current job is relatively great). I think this applies always, regardless of the pandemic.
toto444 6y ago
"I'm not entirely sure why" That is what people usually call the law of supply and demand. Your salary is not a function of your skill but of how rare they are on the market relative to the number of job opening.
- fxtentacle 6y ago
  Judging from the number of offers I got in recent weeks, it seems the number of job openings currently is higher than before. Shouldn't that drive up prices?
  - mgkimsal 6y ago
    If those openings stay open for a long time, perhaps. In the short term it says more about how many people are looking vs how many people they've evaluated/interviewed/hired/rejected.
    - fxtentacle 6y ago
      Thanks for pointing that out :) I completely hadn't thought about the rejection rate as a factor. But given that I rejected them, too, maybe there's so many openings purely because they are bad offers.
vertis 6y ago
Two can play that game, leaving the second there is a better offer is a just way to reward companies that are taking advantage of the current climate. If you don't have a safety net though, the companies are right, it is better to be underpaid than unemployed (assuming the payment is still higher than any unemployment benefits you can get).
dasil003 6y ago
A more charitable way to look at it is that there are many companies that need programmers but can’t afford market salaries anchored by mega corps who make their money by outlying economies of scale. Not saying that’s the truth of the matter, but it’s a perspective you might consider on a case-by-case basis.
- fxtentacle 6y ago
  I agree in general, but I should have made it more clear just how low some of these offers were. If their full-time salary is too low for me to keep an average apartment in a slightly rural village, then I'm not sure who can do the work and have a normal life. Kids living in their parent's basement? But they would lack the requested experience...
mdavis6890 6y ago
"take advantage of the rise in unemployment by trying to lock in highly skilled workers at a low salary" >> By 'take advantage' do you mean offering jobs to people who might be interested in accepting them? >> By 'lock in' do you mean employing people until whenever those people feel like moving on to something else? If so, those are strange definitions. Doesn't sound like anybody is being forced into anything. "offered less than what I currently make for part-time" >> In which case, as a free person, you said 'no,' right?
- gulato 6y ago
  I can't know what the poster was thinking obviously ... but what I took the comment to mean was, within the context of the actual article, they were happy that they now have FU money .. and absolutely can say "no". Then the comment was them imparting a personal story framed by what they assume the employer's thought process was. And how they were happy to be privileged enough to have reached FU Money. The fact that you say "it seems nobody is being forced in to anything" I think is kinda missing the point of the (imho substandard whingey) rant the posted link actually was. I mean, it articulates (poorly) how people are/feel forced in to accepting such situations.
  - fxtentacle 6y ago
    Yes, you perfectly explained what I was trying to say. With enough distance and financial safety, it is easy to be rational and reject such an offer. But I can understand how people might become irrational and accept such an offer, despite it being objectively not too good.

ChuckNorris89 6y ago

Just take whatever job you can o pay your bills and jump ship when the pandemic is over and you can find a better paying job.

mdavis6890 6y ago
More generally - take the best job you can, then keep looking and take a better job when you find one. Hopefully you'll end up looking a long time before you find a better one (meaning that your current job is relatively great). I think this applies always, regardless of the pandemic.

toto444 6y ago

"I'm not entirely sure why" That is what people usually call the law of supply and demand. Your salary is not a function of your skill but of how rare they are on the market relative to the number of job opening.

fxtentacle 6y ago
Judging from the number of offers I got in recent weeks, it seems the number of job openings currently is higher than before. Shouldn't that drive up prices?
- mgkimsal 6y ago
  If those openings stay open for a long time, perhaps. In the short term it says more about how many people are looking vs how many people they've evaluated/interviewed/hired/rejected.
  - fxtentacle 6y ago
    Thanks for pointing that out :) I completely hadn't thought about the rejection rate as a factor. But given that I rejected them, too, maybe there's so many openings purely because they are bad offers.

vertis 6y ago

Two can play that game, leaving the second there is a better offer is a just way to reward companies that are taking advantage of the current climate. If you don't have a safety net though, the companies are right, it is better to be underpaid than unemployed (assuming the payment is still higher than any unemployment benefits you can get).

dasil003 6y ago

A more charitable way to look at it is that there are many companies that need programmers but can’t afford market salaries anchored by mega corps who make their money by outlying economies of scale. Not saying that’s the truth of the matter, but it’s a perspective you might consider on a case-by-case basis.

fxtentacle 6y ago
I agree in general, but I should have made it more clear just how low some of these offers were. If their full-time salary is too low for me to keep an average apartment in a slightly rural village, then I'm not sure who can do the work and have a normal life. Kids living in their parent's basement? But they would lack the requested experience...

mdavis6890 6y ago

"take advantage of the rise in unemployment by trying to lock in highly skilled workers at a low salary" >> By 'take advantage' do you mean offering jobs to people who might be interested in accepting them? >> By 'lock in' do you mean employing people until whenever those people feel like moving on to something else? If so, those are strange definitions. Doesn't sound like anybody is being forced into anything. "offered less than what I currently make for part-time" >> In which case, as a free person, you said 'no,' right?

gulato 6y ago
I can't know what the poster was thinking obviously ... but what I took the comment to mean was, within the context of the actual article, they were happy that they now have FU money .. and absolutely can say "no". Then the comment was them imparting a personal story framed by what they assume the employer's thought process was. And how they were happy to be privileged enough to have reached FU Money. The fact that you say "it seems nobody is being forced in to anything" I think is kinda missing the point of the (imho substandard whingey) rant the posted link actually was. I mean, it articulates (poorly) how people are/feel forced in to accepting such situations.
- fxtentacle 6y ago
  Yes, you perfectly explained what I was trying to say. With enough distance and financial safety, it is easy to be rational and reject such an offer. But I can understand how people might become irrational and accept such an offer, despite it being objectively not too good.