3 ms·

I'm really baffled by how many people think a job is more than a job and there's some ownership over the employee's critical thinking capabilities during the jo

I'm really baffled by how many people think a job is more than a job and there's some ownership over the employee's critical thinking capabilities during the job and after it ends. While I agree the OP is "going for internet brownie points" (or probably a bit butthurt from being laid off from a certifiably top-5 cushiest job in the United States) the article doesn't include anything even remotely trade secret and is predominantly opinion. It's really totally fine to blog about how you feel about your employer. There are certainly risks, but a company has to pay extra if they actually don't want you to blog at all (or they have to be extremely litigious). There's a strong precedent of employer-employee loyalty that has substantially been set due to pre-internet information disparities between the two. In the past year or so, there have been some pretty unprecedented layoffs (e.g. Google lays off thousands and then does billions of stock buybacks ...)... The employer-employee relationship needs to evolve.

khazhoux 3y ago
> a company has to pay extra Part of my problem is that Google (and similar companies) are already paying insane (in the best way possible) amounts of money, and when you sign the agreement to take said money, you explicitly promise you won't talk about company internals. To me this is quite simple: if you accept what winds up being millions of dollars in cash+equity, and you give your word that you'll keep your mouth shut as one of the conditions for that pile of money... then you shut keep your mouth shut.
- choppaface 3y ago
  You keep your mouth shut about material property of Google. E.g. don't post code, and probably don't give details about code that hasn't been made public. Sure, this area is not clear and can also depend on one's internal position in the company, but it's important to separate moral hazard from legal hazard. As far as one's opinions go, and in particular how the company made you feel, that's not paid for. A severance agreement might outline some things, but again that's legal hazard and not moral hazard. There are certainly some execs and managers who will only want to work with really, really loyal people, who throw in a lot more for the money. And some execs will pay a lot more for that... e.g. look at how much Tesla spends on employee litigation.
- anonymouskimmer 3y ago
  Should you also not use any skills you gained at your previous employer at your new employer? Not to mention any techniques you learned about that may help your current employer? Would doing so be "talking about company internals"? So how do you ever get a better job than entry level, if you aren't willing to use the knowledge you gained at prior jobs in new jobs?

khazhoux 3y ago

> a company has to pay extra Part of my problem is that Google (and similar companies) are already paying insane (in the best way possible) amounts of money, and when you sign the agreement to take said money, you explicitly promise you won't talk about company internals. To me this is quite simple: if you accept what winds up being millions of dollars in cash+equity, and you give your word that you'll keep your mouth shut as one of the conditions for that pile of money... then you shut keep your mouth shut.

choppaface 3y ago
You keep your mouth shut about material property of Google. E.g. don't post code, and probably don't give details about code that hasn't been made public. Sure, this area is not clear and can also depend on one's internal position in the company, but it's important to separate moral hazard from legal hazard. As far as one's opinions go, and in particular how the company made you feel, that's not paid for. A severance agreement might outline some things, but again that's legal hazard and not moral hazard. There are certainly some execs and managers who will only want to work with really, really loyal people, who throw in a lot more for the money. And some execs will pay a lot more for that... e.g. look at how much Tesla spends on employee litigation.
anonymouskimmer 3y ago
Should you also not use any skills you gained at your previous employer at your new employer? Not to mention any techniques you learned about that may help your current employer? Would doing so be "talking about company internals"? So how do you ever get a better job than entry level, if you aren't willing to use the knowledge you gained at prior jobs in new jobs?