9 ms·

Just to clarify, you used the word "abuse" several times to describe a job where you would have to work in office between 8:30 to 5 and pull (I'm safely assumin

Just to clarify, you used the word "abuse" several times to describe a job where you would have to work in office between 8:30 to 5 and pull (I'm safely assuming) half a million dollars a year?

GlenTheEskimo 4y ago
Historically Netflix only had one level of engineer (this changed last year) with a starting salary of $400k, so I'm guessing it was substantially more than half a million.
TremendousJudge 4y ago
Not sure about GP, but money isn't everything. If I feel like I'm being treated badly, under stress, and lonely, no money can compensate that.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  This is me. There are lots of jobs that you literally could not pay me enough to do, because they'll make my life miserable. I'd rather be underpaid and enjoy working than make millions and hate life.
- m00x 4y ago
  It depends on what your original amount of money is. I'd rather work my ass off and be abused than be broke and afraid I can't provide for my family. I'd go from 30k to 100k regardless of work conditions, but not from 350k to 700k.
  - bloqs 4y ago
    Avoiding more bad is more heavily weighted than seeking more good in the brain generally but this heavily differs between people. For many, adding more bad is only offset by an rougly an order of magnitude more good.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  I've not seen double, but I've seen a 50% increase, at assuredly a much lower comp level than Netflix, so, far higher marginal-utility for that income, and still wished I hadn't done it about 2 months in. Like, if you'd put a button in front of me and pressing it would undo it like it'd never happened, I'd have pressed it without hesitation. And they weren't even working me long hours or being outright mean to me or anything, the place and the work were just dreary as fuck and it was making me feel like shit even in my off hours. I had another job by month 4, and took a pay hit (though not all the way down to my prior level) to get out fast.
PragmaticPulp 4y ago
The parent comment's wording was funny, but I think the point was that 9-5 was just the start of the commitment. They would have been expected to stay late and work weekends in the office, alone, isolated on their work until it was done. Any engineering job paying double Netflix comp is going to have very high expectations about hours worked and rate of delivery.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jedberg 4y ago
8:30 to 5 was required, but also never working at home was required, so what I was trying to (poorly) say is that they basically expected you to live in the office and never see your family. I'll update accordingly. And the comp package I turned down was about $700k at the time, which was 10 years ago. Nowadays it would be a $1M+ job easy. But not seeing my family is not worth any amount of money to me, since there are other jobs for a lot less that let me see my family and live plenty comfortably.
- interactivecode 4y ago
  I’ll come hangout at the office for that much, no problemo.
  - poly_morphis 4y ago
    Yeah, for that compensation? No question. I'd maybe try and stay a little while past 5. Not sure how many months (years?) I'd last there though, not knowing how 'intensive' the work culture is.
    - 4ggr0 4y ago
      The comp he mentioned is almost 11x of what I make yearly. Of course I lack the skills for a c++ job, but if I worked there for a year I could go on a vacation for the next couple of years. insane.
- DougN7 4y ago
  That’s what we called a “regular job” 30 years ago. Work from wasn’t even an option.
  - jedberg 4y ago
    That’s not true at all for white collar jobs. You’d bring your work home in a briefcase and work on it after the kids went to bed. And if was a blue collar job you got overtime. This job expected you to work onsite 80 hours a week.
sgt101 4y ago
I've worked on a trading floor before, a very nice one (by repute) but it is still a dreadful place to work. Imagine you are expected to do intensive knowledge work with high stakes and executive / management board oversight in the middle of a kindergarten which includes broadcast/loudspeaker announcements every 30 minutes. People shout, people run about, people stand on desks... Bedlam.
- jbarham 4y ago
  Brings back bad memories of my time as a developer in finance (big bond shop on the west coast). Walls covered in TV screens showing CNBC on mute until some bigshot was on (Fed decision imminent!) and then some intern walked around turning up the volume on all the TVs until the bigshot had finished giving his opinion. Ticker displays running non-stop causing more visual noise. Traders and quants running around. Analysts chatting with their buddies at other firms on the phone. Impossible to get in the zone, very long hours and, worst of all, having to do it all wearing a dress shirt and tie. It was certainly a memorable experience, but one I never wish to repeat.
- CapricornNoble 4y ago
  So....basically my previous work environment as a military officer in a high-level operations center, except with MASSIVELY better compensation? How do I get one these jobs if my C++ skills are "meh" at best and I haven't done finance/economics stuff since I was an undergrad? The stress and scope of responsibilities are almost a non-issue.
  - elteto 4y ago
    Hit the C++ books; pay for some training (there's plenty online). Then study hard for the interview. It's not rocket science to get some of these jobs.
sirsinsalot 4y ago
I can clarify: software devs can be divas just like any other highly paid and pedestaled job
simplotek 4y ago
> (...) you would have to work in office between 8:30 to 5 and (...) It was my understanding that was the bare minimum, corresponding to times when workload was low. Crunch time would naturally go way beyond that. Not what I describe decent working conditions.
iancmceachern 4y ago
Abuse comes in many forms. Just because they're paying "well" doesn't mean it's not an abusive environment. In fact, they are paying so well precisely because it'd abusive.

Just to clarify, you used the word "abuse" several times to describe a job where you would have to work in office between 8:30 to 5 and pull (I'm safely assuming) half a million dollars a year?

GlenTheEskimo 4y ago

Historically Netflix only had one level of engineer (this changed last year) with a starting salary of $400k, so I'm guessing it was substantially more than half a million.

TremendousJudge 4y ago

Not sure about GP, but money isn't everything. If I feel like I'm being treated badly, under stress, and lonely, no money can compensate that.

JohnFen 4y ago
This is me. There are lots of jobs that you literally could not pay me enough to do, because they'll make my life miserable. I'd rather be underpaid and enjoy working than make millions and hate life.
m00x 4y ago
It depends on what your original amount of money is. I'd rather work my ass off and be abused than be broke and afraid I can't provide for my family. I'd go from 30k to 100k regardless of work conditions, but not from 350k to 700k.
- bloqs 4y ago
  Avoiding more bad is more heavily weighted than seeking more good in the brain generally but this heavily differs between people. For many, adding more bad is only offset by an rougly an order of magnitude more good.
yamtaddle 4y ago
I've not seen double, but I've seen a 50% increase, at assuredly a much lower comp level than Netflix, so, far higher marginal-utility for that income, and still wished I hadn't done it about 2 months in. Like, if you'd put a button in front of me and pressing it would undo it like it'd never happened, I'd have pressed it without hesitation. And they weren't even working me long hours or being outright mean to me or anything, the place and the work were just dreary as fuck and it was making me feel like shit even in my off hours. I had another job by month 4, and took a pay hit (though not all the way down to my prior level) to get out fast.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago

The parent comment's wording was funny, but I think the point was that 9-5 was just the start of the commitment. They would have been expected to stay late and work weekends in the office, alone, isolated on their work until it was done. Any engineering job paying double Netflix comp is going to have very high expectations about hours worked and rate of delivery.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

jedberg 4y ago

8:30 to 5 was required, but also never working at home was required, so what I was trying to (poorly) say is that they basically expected you to live in the office and never see your family. I'll update accordingly. And the comp package I turned down was about $700k at the time, which was 10 years ago. Nowadays it would be a $1M+ job easy. But not seeing my family is not worth any amount of money to me, since there are other jobs for a lot less that let me see my family and live plenty comfortably.

interactivecode 4y ago
I’ll come hangout at the office for that much, no problemo.
- poly_morphis 4y ago
  Yeah, for that compensation? No question. I'd maybe try and stay a little while past 5. Not sure how many months (years?) I'd last there though, not knowing how 'intensive' the work culture is.
  - 4ggr0 4y ago
    The comp he mentioned is almost 11x of what I make yearly. Of course I lack the skills for a c++ job, but if I worked there for a year I could go on a vacation for the next couple of years. insane.
DougN7 4y ago
That’s what we called a “regular job” 30 years ago. Work from wasn’t even an option.
- jedberg 4y ago
  That’s not true at all for white collar jobs. You’d bring your work home in a briefcase and work on it after the kids went to bed. And if was a blue collar job you got overtime. This job expected you to work onsite 80 hours a week.

sgt101 4y ago

I've worked on a trading floor before, a very nice one (by repute) but it is still a dreadful place to work. Imagine you are expected to do intensive knowledge work with high stakes and executive / management board oversight in the middle of a kindergarten which includes broadcast/loudspeaker announcements every 30 minutes. People shout, people run about, people stand on desks... Bedlam.

jbarham 4y ago
Brings back bad memories of my time as a developer in finance (big bond shop on the west coast). Walls covered in TV screens showing CNBC on mute until some bigshot was on (Fed decision imminent!) and then some intern walked around turning up the volume on all the TVs until the bigshot had finished giving his opinion. Ticker displays running non-stop causing more visual noise. Traders and quants running around. Analysts chatting with their buddies at other firms on the phone. Impossible to get in the zone, very long hours and, worst of all, having to do it all wearing a dress shirt and tie. It was certainly a memorable experience, but one I never wish to repeat.
CapricornNoble 4y ago
So....basically my previous work environment as a military officer in a high-level operations center, except with MASSIVELY better compensation? How do I get one these jobs if my C++ skills are "meh" at best and I haven't done finance/economics stuff since I was an undergrad? The stress and scope of responsibilities are almost a non-issue.
- elteto 4y ago
  Hit the C++ books; pay for some training (there's plenty online). Then study hard for the interview. It's not rocket science to get some of these jobs.

sirsinsalot 4y ago

I can clarify: software devs can be divas just like any other highly paid and pedestaled job

simplotek 4y ago

> (...) you would have to work in office between 8:30 to 5 and (...) It was my understanding that was the bare minimum, corresponding to times when workload was low. Crunch time would naturally go way beyond that. Not what I describe decent working conditions.

iancmceachern 4y ago

Abuse comes in many forms. Just because they're paying "well" doesn't mean it's not an abusive environment. In fact, they are paying so well precisely because it'd abusive.