3 ms·

I miss the "because they can" explanation. If billions are raining from the sky, you can hire armies of people. Every manager wants to expand their "empire", a

I miss the "because they can" explanation. If billions are raining from the sky, you can hire armies of people. Every manager wants to expand their "empire", and there is money to hire people, so in the end a lot of people get hired.

moduspol 4y ago
There is also a little bit of policy influence. In a vacuum, a company's profits should only be used by that company to expand / pursue other ventures if that company is uniquely in a position to make the best use of it. Otherwise, shareholders would prefer that dividends be paid out, and the shareholders can choose where to invest it. But dividends are taxed, and a company utilizing those profits to expand / pursue other ventures is not. Especially in the tech sector, this means you're essentially leaving money on the table by paying dividends. For shareholders to be able to invest better, they'd need to overcome the taxes they'd pay on receiving those dividends as income, which is very difficult. This allows for a lot of waste in spending that would otherwise not exist. Even if all of those failed ventures and meaningless middle managers reduce the return on that investment by 25% or more, it's still saving money over just paying dividends to shareholders and staying lean.
anonreeeeplor 4y ago
Yes
TheLonelyGecko 4y ago
Then a lot of people get fired. Then a lot of people get hired.
- Ditiris 4y ago
  Yeah but what happens next?!?
  - 6510 4y ago
    You cant find people to do real work
    - pelasaco 4y ago
      And reading your comment here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34737179 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34737179 looks like you are part of the problem.
      - wildrhythms 4y ago
        "Quiet quitting", as you so aptly did not wish to call it, does not exist in a vacuum; it is a response to unheard, unaddressed critiques from the people who actually do the work, and likely the only avenue those workers have left to 'voice' those critiques. I think anyone who has worked in a large org, especially hot on the heels of laying off so-called 'high performing' employees, should be able to empathize with the message.
        pelasaco 4y ago
        Quiet quitting, loud whining. I get it, this young generation has everything so hard in comparison with all others..
        6510 4y ago
        You don't get it. You are entitled to nothing more than it says in the contract. There are ways to get more performance out of people but you have to decide if you need it and have to chose to do it. We can struggle and share the victory over a deadline or you can have those dumb shits put in some overtime and hope you will make it. You get to be whoever you want to be.
        pelasaco 4y ago
        > You don't get it. You are entitled to nothing more than it says in the contract. People have lost their sense of duty and responsibility to act civilized. Example: You have a meeting at 11:00. You wake up at 10:59 and don't want to turn your camera on or turn it on while lying on your bed. Don't prepare well for the meeting, didn't check, i.e., the scrum board, don't remember what you did yesterday, etc... I've been hiring developers since 2005. I still work as a developer. I played different roles as CTO, Product Manager, Team manager, etc... It's getting hard to get developers under 30 that can act as an adult. You cannot write everything in the contract, even though responsibility, organization skills, etc., are requirements for every job, and it is, in one way or another, written down in the contract that we all sign when accepting a job.

moduspol 4y ago

There is also a little bit of policy influence. In a vacuum, a company's profits should only be used by that company to expand / pursue other ventures if that company is uniquely in a position to make the best use of it. Otherwise, shareholders would prefer that dividends be paid out, and the shareholders can choose where to invest it. But dividends are taxed, and a company utilizing those profits to expand / pursue other ventures is not. Especially in the tech sector, this means you're essentially leaving money on the table by paying dividends. For shareholders to be able to invest better, they'd need to overcome the taxes they'd pay on receiving those dividends as income, which is very difficult. This allows for a lot of waste in spending that would otherwise not exist. Even if all of those failed ventures and meaningless middle managers reduce the return on that investment by 25% or more, it's still saving money over just paying dividends to shareholders and staying lean.

anonreeeeplor 4y ago

Yes

TheLonelyGecko 4y ago

Then a lot of people get fired. Then a lot of people get hired.

Ditiris 4y ago
Yeah but what happens next?!?
- 6510 4y ago
  You cant find people to do real work
  - pelasaco 4y ago
    And reading your comment here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34737179 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34737179 looks like you are part of the problem.
    - wildrhythms 4y ago
      "Quiet quitting", as you so aptly did not wish to call it, does not exist in a vacuum; it is a response to unheard, unaddressed critiques from the people who actually do the work, and likely the only avenue those workers have left to 'voice' those critiques. I think anyone who has worked in a large org, especially hot on the heels of laying off so-called 'high performing' employees, should be able to empathize with the message.
      - pelasaco 4y ago
        Quiet quitting, loud whining. I get it, this young generation has everything so hard in comparison with all others..
        6510 4y ago
        You don't get it. You are entitled to nothing more than it says in the contract. There are ways to get more performance out of people but you have to decide if you need it and have to chose to do it. We can struggle and share the victory over a deadline or you can have those dumb shits put in some overtime and hope you will make it. You get to be whoever you want to be.
        pelasaco 4y ago
        > You don't get it. You are entitled to nothing more than it says in the contract. People have lost their sense of duty and responsibility to act civilized. Example: You have a meeting at 11:00. You wake up at 10:59 and don't want to turn your camera on or turn it on while lying on your bed. Don't prepare well for the meeting, didn't check, i.e., the scrum board, don't remember what you did yesterday, etc... I've been hiring developers since 2005. I still work as a developer. I played different roles as CTO, Product Manager, Team manager, etc... It's getting hard to get developers under 30 that can act as an adult. You cannot write everything in the contract, even though responsibility, organization skills, etc., are requirements for every job, and it is, in one way or another, written down in the contract that we all sign when accepting a job.