5 ms·

> They work at FAANG. Pretty sure they'll be able to get new jobs very quickly I think companies are acutely aware and growingly suspicious of employee activis

by bko 5y ago

> They work at FAANG. Pretty sure they'll be able to get new jobs very quickly I think companies are acutely aware and growingly suspicious of employee activism. Would you want to hire an activist for your organization? It would be a red flag to me as the activist employees could second guess any decisions made at any level of the organization and work to organize to cause a disruption. It's just not an effective way to run a business

cm2012 5y ago
I've seen this happen IRL recently, where a company decided against hiring someone due a history of strongly opinionated employee activism.
- bko 5y ago
  I don't blame them. I would definitely consider activism when picking someone for my team. At the end of the day I like working in mission focused organizations. I love working with a diverse group of people, but it's critical that a mission unites us
  - bawolff 5y ago
    Do you really believe your mission unites your employees? Maybe if you're curing cancer or something, but for most tech workers working on some generic CRUD app, they pay lip service to being motivated by the "mission", but settle for something mildly interesting that hopefully isn't actively doing evil in the world. Your employees trade time and skill for money. Hearts and souls is a much less common trade.
    - bko 5y ago
      It doesn't matter what the mission is so much as there is one. If the mission is build a beautiful website or a well designed flexible backend, then that's fine. In that case we come in every day and drive towards that.
      - bawolff 5y ago
        Perhaps we're using the word "mission" differently. I would call that a goal, and i agree its important. In most places i have worked, the mission has been some high minded rhetoric about how we're going to change the world for the better that is really disconnected from what we actually do.
- elgernon 5y ago
  I would never hire someone with public activism record. In fact I'd rather hire someone with prior criminal record, as they actually have a chance to recover.
  - dang 5y ago
    Would you please stop creating accounts that use HN primarily for ideological battle? It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. As you know, we ban such accounts regardless of what they're for or against. I've banned this one. If you want to use HN as intended—for intellectual curiosity—then you're welcome, but ideological agendas are the opposite of that, irrespective of which ideology. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - over_the_raibow 5y ago
      >If you want to use HN as intended—for intellectual curiosity—then you're welcome, but ideological agendas are the opposite of that, irrespective of which ideology. You may not be interested in any ideology, but Ideology is surely interested in what you believe. That world where internet was for intellectual curiosity and not ideology battle at every step, is long gone and never coming back.
      - dang 5y ago
        Maybe so, but the site guidelines haven't changed. If we have to ban more accounts for breaking them, that's fine. It's certainly better than not banning them.
clairity 5y ago
you've got the importances inverted. letting companies do as they please is no way to run a society. people first, then companies. it's this sort of inversion that's gotten us into the mess of a society we're facing now.
- bko 5y ago
  I disagree. You need strong leadership in an organization. You can't run an organization with 10k employees where any employee can hold you hostage and refuse to work if they disagree with any decision made.
  - bawolff 5y ago
    Any employee can refuse to work. Its called quitting. That's a very different thing than this of course, which is based around the idea, its not worth it to fire them all.
    - clairity 5y ago
      so coercive tactics by companies against employees is ok but not the reverse? again, that’s a perverse inversion, against the common interests of society at large. corporations are chartered by the government as a means to direct their efforts toward the common good. they’re not natural entities, and we should be way more willing to revoke those charters for the betterment of society.
      - rsj_hn 5y ago
        The interests of society are not served by a group of activists with extremist views trying to impose their values on the entire planet by leveraging the fact that they work for a global brand, and then trying to use that leverage to deplatform anyone who offends them. Letting people watch what they want is the democratic position that benefits society at large.
        clairity 5y ago
bawolff 5y ago
Given the current job market and political climate in tech, i find it hard to believe that a high skill employee would be passed over because they attended a pro-trans protest/walk-stoppage along with thousand other people. I don't think most people would even consider such a person to be an activist employee. The person who leaked confidential data - yes, i could see that being a red flag in hiring.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  It's really tough to find good people, but for 500K FAANG jobs, there's still a long line of applicants. I don't think we've reached the state (yet) where firms are going to be keeping blacklists of activists. But we're certainly heading in that direction as techies try to force employers into more extreme stances. Dave Chappelle is a popular guy with broad mainstream appeal, and it's incredibly arrogant for Netflix employees to try to deplatform him, or to try to dictate what Netflix, a company with a global reach, can show to a worldwide audience. And I think we are going to see some mass firings and circulation of blacklists in at least some of the FAANGS before people wake up and realize they are no longer in college protesting some speaker they think makes them "unsafe". For these types of salaries, some professionalism is expected, and long term employers will demand it.
  - HKH2 5y ago
    The same goes for Spotify employees and Joe Rogan.
  - CodeGlitch 5y ago
    I've worked in some places where company policy on clothing was "no offensive or political slogans". This was 15-20 years ago. So there was some appetite for keeping politics out of the workplace. I wonder if that needs to be brought back in to most places.
- skinkestek 5y ago
  Personally I think there is a fair chance that unless many of these are really good, Netflix will be more productive a month later, not less. I also think for a large demographic it will make Netflix a more interesting employeer, not less. I'm in talks with a FAANG company now and this is an actual worry that I have but cannot discuss with my point of contact, that I will be canceled shortly after I'm hired either because of my friends, my views or something I said half a life ago.

by bko 5y ago

cm2012 5y ago

I've seen this happen IRL recently, where a company decided against hiring someone due a history of strongly opinionated employee activism.

bko 5y ago
I don't blame them. I would definitely consider activism when picking someone for my team. At the end of the day I like working in mission focused organizations. I love working with a diverse group of people, but it's critical that a mission unites us
- bawolff 5y ago
  Do you really believe your mission unites your employees? Maybe if you're curing cancer or something, but for most tech workers working on some generic CRUD app, they pay lip service to being motivated by the "mission", but settle for something mildly interesting that hopefully isn't actively doing evil in the world. Your employees trade time and skill for money. Hearts and souls is a much less common trade.
  - bko 5y ago
    It doesn't matter what the mission is so much as there is one. If the mission is build a beautiful website or a well designed flexible backend, then that's fine. In that case we come in every day and drive towards that.
    - bawolff 5y ago
      Perhaps we're using the word "mission" differently. I would call that a goal, and i agree its important. In most places i have worked, the mission has been some high minded rhetoric about how we're going to change the world for the better that is really disconnected from what we actually do.
elgernon 5y ago
I would never hire someone with public activism record. In fact I'd rather hire someone with prior criminal record, as they actually have a chance to recover.
- dang 5y ago
  Would you please stop creating accounts that use HN primarily for ideological battle? It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. As you know, we ban such accounts regardless of what they're for or against. I've banned this one. If you want to use HN as intended—for intellectual curiosity—then you're welcome, but ideological agendas are the opposite of that, irrespective of which ideology. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - over_the_raibow 5y ago
    >If you want to use HN as intended—for intellectual curiosity—then you're welcome, but ideological agendas are the opposite of that, irrespective of which ideology. You may not be interested in any ideology, but Ideology is surely interested in what you believe. That world where internet was for intellectual curiosity and not ideology battle at every step, is long gone and never coming back.
    - dang 5y ago
      Maybe so, but the site guidelines haven't changed. If we have to ban more accounts for breaking them, that's fine. It's certainly better than not banning them.

clairity 5y ago

you've got the importances inverted. letting companies do as they please is no way to run a society. people first, then companies. it's this sort of inversion that's gotten us into the mess of a society we're facing now.

bko 5y ago
I disagree. You need strong leadership in an organization. You can't run an organization with 10k employees where any employee can hold you hostage and refuse to work if they disagree with any decision made.
- bawolff 5y ago
  Any employee can refuse to work. Its called quitting. That's a very different thing than this of course, which is based around the idea, its not worth it to fire them all.
  - clairity 5y ago
    so coercive tactics by companies against employees is ok but not the reverse? again, that’s a perverse inversion, against the common interests of society at large. corporations are chartered by the government as a means to direct their efforts toward the common good. they’re not natural entities, and we should be way more willing to revoke those charters for the betterment of society.
    - rsj_hn 5y ago
      The interests of society are not served by a group of activists with extremist views trying to impose their values on the entire planet by leveraging the fact that they work for a global brand, and then trying to use that leverage to deplatform anyone who offends them. Letting people watch what they want is the democratic position that benefits society at large.
      - clairity 5y ago

bawolff 5y ago

Given the current job market and political climate in tech, i find it hard to believe that a high skill employee would be passed over because they attended a pro-trans protest/walk-stoppage along with thousand other people. I don't think most people would even consider such a person to be an activist employee. The person who leaked confidential data - yes, i could see that being a red flag in hiring.

rsj_hn 5y ago
It's really tough to find good people, but for 500K FAANG jobs, there's still a long line of applicants. I don't think we've reached the state (yet) where firms are going to be keeping blacklists of activists. But we're certainly heading in that direction as techies try to force employers into more extreme stances. Dave Chappelle is a popular guy with broad mainstream appeal, and it's incredibly arrogant for Netflix employees to try to deplatform him, or to try to dictate what Netflix, a company with a global reach, can show to a worldwide audience. And I think we are going to see some mass firings and circulation of blacklists in at least some of the FAANGS before people wake up and realize they are no longer in college protesting some speaker they think makes them "unsafe". For these types of salaries, some professionalism is expected, and long term employers will demand it.
- HKH2 5y ago
  The same goes for Spotify employees and Joe Rogan.
- CodeGlitch 5y ago
  I've worked in some places where company policy on clothing was "no offensive or political slogans". This was 15-20 years ago. So there was some appetite for keeping politics out of the workplace. I wonder if that needs to be brought back in to most places.
skinkestek 5y ago
Personally I think there is a fair chance that unless many of these are really good, Netflix will be more productive a month later, not less. I also think for a large demographic it will make Netflix a more interesting employeer, not less. I'm in talks with a FAANG company now and this is an actual worry that I have but cannot discuss with my point of contact, that I will be canceled shortly after I'm hired either because of my friends, my views or something I said half a life ago.