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War is hell. If you were around in 2008, this is par for the course. They're not going to say "In 6 months we're going to do some layoffs." in the US. Get your

War is hell. If you were around in 2008, this is par for the course. They're not going to say "In 6 months we're going to do some layoffs." in the US. Get your weight up, lean on your network, get to the next gig. You must surf the crud to keep afloat. Join blind, keep in contact with your coworkers, and network network network. This is why you make friends with your coworkers, who become diaspora from that job, and can get you an in at new places to jump over hiring queues. This is all assuming you are good at what you do, and have some experience. If you're <2y into the industry, it is gonna be a slog. I cannot stress this enough: no matter how much you think so, your company does not care individually about you. This might be met with "we must unionize!", but remember, we are highly paid, highly mobile, and highly in demand, possibly of all time! I don't think a union will save you from economic downturn. Tech moves faster than nearly all other industries because we do not have long procurement timelines, this also means we die by the sword when the tide changes. The major element of tech is movement of capital. If you do not believe this, think about running a place that manufactures and ships products. Lead times for stock, time for manufacture/finishing, and shipping. The logistics for shipping a software product is: "hubot deploy prod" in slack. Put Unity at the top of your resume and get applying. It sucks now, but on the long arc we'll make it out of this.

SoftTalker 4y ago
When you look at the work conditions that lead to the rise of the big unions, it's laughable to think that a job that involves sitting at a desk in an air-conditioned office for 40 hours a week is in any way comparable. Most tech employees realize that they've got a pretty good thing going, they earn well above average incomes, typically have top-notch benefits, can find new employment easily if needed, and are not going to perceive a union bringing anything desireable to the table.
- swatcoder 4y ago
  You’re right that factory and manual labor abuses are more vivid and immediate, but there are techniques to harm creative and professional workers as well. This is why there are unions for film and theater industry creatives, as well as nurses, and why there are licensing associations that provide collective power for lawyers and doctors. Not all tech workers have it cushy, and collective action of some kind (it doesn’t have to be unions) can help protect the most exploited.
  - anarticle 4y ago
    I can assure you no other job on earth has kombucha on tap. :)

SoftTalker 4y ago

When you look at the work conditions that lead to the rise of the big unions, it's laughable to think that a job that involves sitting at a desk in an air-conditioned office for 40 hours a week is in any way comparable. Most tech employees realize that they've got a pretty good thing going, they earn well above average incomes, typically have top-notch benefits, can find new employment easily if needed, and are not going to perceive a union bringing anything desireable to the table.

swatcoder 4y ago
You’re right that factory and manual labor abuses are more vivid and immediate, but there are techniques to harm creative and professional workers as well. This is why there are unions for film and theater industry creatives, as well as nurses, and why there are licensing associations that provide collective power for lawyers and doctors. Not all tech workers have it cushy, and collective action of some kind (it doesn’t have to be unions) can help protect the most exploited.
- anarticle 4y ago
  I can assure you no other job on earth has kombucha on tap. :)