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Highly motivated/skilled people will probably do valuable things with their time off that is not measured well by GDP.

mrfox321 4y ago
Maybe as an edge case. I think this argument underestimates survival instincts.
crazygringo 4y ago
Some will, for sure. But plenty of others will struggle severely or even enter into depression. Productive work is a major factor in psychological well-being. And a lot of people have spent their career being a highly specialized expert in one thing. Expecting them to abandon that for a year or more in order to instead contribute "entry-level skills" at something else can be difficult. It's already known how retirement can lead to depression and a painful feeling of emptiness -- imagine how much worse that can be in the prime middle of your career. It's not about the money or whether GDP measures something or not. It's about the ability to contribute what you're best at, where your excellence lies, or having that ability taken away. For many people, there isn't any kind of easy substitute for their primary area of expertise.
- ogre_battle 4y ago
  I don't buy the "plenty of others" -- where are you pulling this? No offense but it sounds like projection. 2 years of non-compete aka 2 years of compensation to not work sounds WONDERFUL. Like, it means you're so good at your job we're willing to pay you to not do jack shit. You musta been working on something so cool that it's worthwhile to have you sit at home then let someone get even a whiff of it. It's the best possible compliment. There are PLENTY of ways to do productive work -- take a class, work on a certification, work on a side gig, or take a job in a different industry for a spell. Volunteer at the YMCA and do an AWS cert while sleeping in until 10am every morning. "entry level skills" is also simply untrue -- plenty of non-entry level stuff you can crank away at. Start a Master's degree, or shoot for the high end Cisco certs, etc. etc. You can contribute to where where you're best at in a ton of different ways. You need to ditch this hustle culture mentality, there are plenty of ways to generate excellence and they don't require full-time, ass-kissing jobs.
asdff 4y ago
Sure, but your next employer isn't going to care that you took up fly fishing, they will just see a gap in your resume and ding you for that.
- andirk 4y ago
  Whenever asked why there's a gap in my resume, I take insult, laugh, and say I didn't feel like working. I am compensated handsomely for my skills and that offers me the opportunity to be away from FTE as I so desire. I also have this and that side project I worked on because I'm obsessed with this coding shit. And then I ask them why is there no break in their resume? What are they afraid of? Are they not good at saving $? Have no desire to see the world outside of work? Never seen the-- you get the point.
- mindvirus 4y ago
  Plenty of people just put "non compete" for that span of time, especially in the hedge fund world where these are common (and compensated).
- ogre_battle 4y ago
  It's a single-sentence answer: "there was a compensated non-compete" Have something to show for your time, like you took an online class or something, but it's not a huge surprise. You didn't pop on multiple DUIs and spend 2 years in the slammer.

Maybe as an edge case. I think this argument underestimates survival instincts.

Some will, for sure. But plenty of others will struggle severely or even enter into depression. Productive work is a major factor in psychological well-being. And a lot of people have spent their career being a highly specialized expert in one thing. Expecting them to abandon that for a year or more in order to instead contribute "entry-level skills" at something else can be difficult. It's already known how retirement can lead to depression and a painful feeling of emptiness -- imagine how much worse that can be in the prime middle of your career. It's not about the money or whether GDP measures something or not. It's about the ability to contribute what you're best at, where your excellence lies, or having that ability taken away. For many people, there isn't any kind of easy substitute for their primary area of expertise.

ogre_battle 4y ago
I don't buy the "plenty of others" -- where are you pulling this? No offense but it sounds like projection. 2 years of non-compete aka 2 years of compensation to not work sounds WONDERFUL. Like, it means you're so good at your job we're willing to pay you to not do jack shit. You musta been working on something so cool that it's worthwhile to have you sit at home then let someone get even a whiff of it. It's the best possible compliment. There are PLENTY of ways to do productive work -- take a class, work on a certification, work on a side gig, or take a job in a different industry for a spell. Volunteer at the YMCA and do an AWS cert while sleeping in until 10am every morning. "entry level skills" is also simply untrue -- plenty of non-entry level stuff you can crank away at. Start a Master's degree, or shoot for the high end Cisco certs, etc. etc. You can contribute to where where you're best at in a ton of different ways. You need to ditch this hustle culture mentality, there are plenty of ways to generate excellence and they don't require full-time, ass-kissing jobs.

asdff 4y ago

Sure, but your next employer isn't going to care that you took up fly fishing, they will just see a gap in your resume and ding you for that.

andirk 4y ago
Whenever asked why there's a gap in my resume, I take insult, laugh, and say I didn't feel like working. I am compensated handsomely for my skills and that offers me the opportunity to be away from FTE as I so desire. I also have this and that side project I worked on because I'm obsessed with this coding shit. And then I ask them why is there no break in their resume? What are they afraid of? Are they not good at saving $? Have no desire to see the world outside of work? Never seen the-- you get the point.
mindvirus 4y ago
Plenty of people just put "non compete" for that span of time, especially in the hedge fund world where these are common (and compensated).
ogre_battle 4y ago
It's a single-sentence answer: "there was a compensated non-compete" Have something to show for your time, like you took an online class or something, but it's not a huge surprise. You didn't pop on multiple DUIs and spend 2 years in the slammer.