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Picking up and moving to the “it” tech city assuming you’ll get hired sounds like a great solution… that is, if you don’t have family obligations, or, really…

Picking up and moving to the “it” tech city assuming you’ll get hired sounds like a great solution… that is, if you don’t have family obligations, or, really… a family, long-term responsibilities of any kind, a chronic health condition, or lack money to support an expensive interstate/city/country move probably with an increased cost of living while unemployed… and all to assume that your employer is going to cast you side when they’re done with you so you’ll have to do it all over again? You’re either wealthy enough to not realize how infeasible this is for most people over 25, or you’ve got a serious case of tech industry Stockholm syndrome. I’ll continue to vet my employers.

ycdxvjp 3y ago
It's feasible. I have done it. Moved to Singapore and now in South Korea with family. I think experienced people have lot of interesting options. Many don't look.
- ahepp 3y ago
  Moved to Singapore from where? The USA? There was a point where I was investigating opportunities out in Southeast Asia, but I never had a ton of success even finding listings.
- danjac 3y ago
  And suppose you have a spouse with a career that isn't so mobile? Language barriers? Work visas? Elderly parents? Tons of reasons people can't just up and migrate at the drop of a hat.
  - SenHeng 3y ago
    Millions of people leave their spouses, kids and parents to move to another country for work. Most don't even work anywhere adjacent to tech. We call them migrants. If you're ambitious/hungry enough, you'll do whatever it takes.
    - danjac 3y ago
      They do so out of desperation. If that's the future of the tech industry, I would prefer to leave the industry.
    - majewsky 3y ago
      > If you're ambitious/hungry enough You spelled "exploitable" wrong.
    - KeplerBoy 3y ago
      Whatever it takes to survive, not to make a few bucks more. There's no reason to chase that money once you are past a certain point. The truth is lambos aren't that practical anyways.
    - weweersdfsd 3y ago
      Most of those millions also have miserable lives in their new host country, and indeed do it simply out of necessity. If IT goes that way, I would rather move to the countryside and grow my own food, than become an international wage slave who moves wherever our rich overlords want.
    - chefandy 3y ago
      > Most don't even work anywhere adjacent to tech. We call them migrants. As I indicated, at the beginning of your career as a young person without a family or much tying you down, moving to a place where you're more likely to get a job in your field obviously makes complete sense, but that's not who we're talking about here. These are professionals-- many in their mid to late careers-- that got laid off, largely without notice. Being expected to abandon your life, mid-career to flock to the latest career hotspot because we complacently allow large established employers to pick up and discard large numbers of employees at their convenience-- demanding loyalty and offering none in return-- is not the same thing. > Millions of people leave their spouses, kids and parents to move to another country for work. Millions of people also have nutritional rickets. > If you're ambitious/hungry enough, you'll do whatever it takes. If you think system this rewards ambition anywhere close to as much as it rewards people already within the existing power structures, you're fooling yourself. Tech is no different than many other industries: it treats less privileged classes like donkeys while the privileged sit on top with a carrot on a stick being sure to let them get a bite every now and again when their frustration starts impacting their output. Of course there are individual success stories you can cherry pick to make it seem like reality for the majority, but you could take the worst NBA free-thrower and cherry pick them a perfect record.
- chefandy 3y ago
  You moved a family to Singapore without a job based on the assumption you'd get hired? That's what the comment I'm responding to is proposing. If so, you are unrepresentatively wealthy.
v1ne 3y ago
Well, maybe there's a deeper truth to qp11's statement: I completely agree that moving to the tech city _du jour_ caters to the demographic of mid-20 "anywheres". Having a family, long-term friends or obligations such as elderly care rules you out. Or god forbid: A time-consuming hobby or in general something apart from work that gives meaning to your life. And that's exactly the point! You only get those high wages when you put in the 60–80 hours a week (or 40 very focused hours a week) that you can spend if you live for your work. To the employer, such dependent, driven employees are very valuable. Much more than some family father who comes in for 20 hours a week and is often tired and just wants to get back home to play with his children.
- chefandy 3y ago
  Stockholm syndrome. Mercantile utility being the only driving factor that governs these actions is exactly the problem. You're expending your life-- no more or less valuable than the life of the CEO or shareholders-- to give the CEO and shareholders a fantastically luxurious life that was, in nearly every case, only afforded to them because of existing wealth. That's fucked up. What's even more fucked up is that it's stratifying more, not less. Succumbing to this very well-marketed idea that we're worth no more than our monetary value in a market is one of the driving factors.

ycdxvjp 3y ago

It's feasible. I have done it. Moved to Singapore and now in South Korea with family. I think experienced people have lot of interesting options. Many don't look.

ahepp 3y ago
Moved to Singapore from where? The USA? There was a point where I was investigating opportunities out in Southeast Asia, but I never had a ton of success even finding listings.
danjac 3y ago
And suppose you have a spouse with a career that isn't so mobile? Language barriers? Work visas? Elderly parents? Tons of reasons people can't just up and migrate at the drop of a hat.
- SenHeng 3y ago
  Millions of people leave their spouses, kids and parents to move to another country for work. Most don't even work anywhere adjacent to tech. We call them migrants. If you're ambitious/hungry enough, you'll do whatever it takes.
  - danjac 3y ago
    They do so out of desperation. If that's the future of the tech industry, I would prefer to leave the industry.
  - majewsky 3y ago
    > If you're ambitious/hungry enough You spelled "exploitable" wrong.
  - KeplerBoy 3y ago
    Whatever it takes to survive, not to make a few bucks more. There's no reason to chase that money once you are past a certain point. The truth is lambos aren't that practical anyways.
  - weweersdfsd 3y ago
    Most of those millions also have miserable lives in their new host country, and indeed do it simply out of necessity. If IT goes that way, I would rather move to the countryside and grow my own food, than become an international wage slave who moves wherever our rich overlords want.
  - chefandy 3y ago
    > Most don't even work anywhere adjacent to tech. We call them migrants. As I indicated, at the beginning of your career as a young person without a family or much tying you down, moving to a place where you're more likely to get a job in your field obviously makes complete sense, but that's not who we're talking about here. These are professionals-- many in their mid to late careers-- that got laid off, largely without notice. Being expected to abandon your life, mid-career to flock to the latest career hotspot because we complacently allow large established employers to pick up and discard large numbers of employees at their convenience-- demanding loyalty and offering none in return-- is not the same thing. > Millions of people leave their spouses, kids and parents to move to another country for work. Millions of people also have nutritional rickets. > If you're ambitious/hungry enough, you'll do whatever it takes. If you think system this rewards ambition anywhere close to as much as it rewards people already within the existing power structures, you're fooling yourself. Tech is no different than many other industries: it treats less privileged classes like donkeys while the privileged sit on top with a carrot on a stick being sure to let them get a bite every now and again when their frustration starts impacting their output. Of course there are individual success stories you can cherry pick to make it seem like reality for the majority, but you could take the worst NBA free-thrower and cherry pick them a perfect record.
chefandy 3y ago
You moved a family to Singapore without a job based on the assumption you'd get hired? That's what the comment I'm responding to is proposing. If so, you are unrepresentatively wealthy.

v1ne 3y ago

Well, maybe there's a deeper truth to qp11's statement: I completely agree that moving to the tech city _du jour_ caters to the demographic of mid-20 "anywheres". Having a family, long-term friends or obligations such as elderly care rules you out. Or god forbid: A time-consuming hobby or in general something apart from work that gives meaning to your life. And that's exactly the point! You only get those high wages when you put in the 60–80 hours a week (or 40 very focused hours a week) that you can spend if you live for your work. To the employer, such dependent, driven employees are very valuable. Much more than some family father who comes in for 20 hours a week and is often tired and just wants to get back home to play with his children.

chefandy 3y ago
Stockholm syndrome. Mercantile utility being the only driving factor that governs these actions is exactly the problem. You're expending your life-- no more or less valuable than the life of the CEO or shareholders-- to give the CEO and shareholders a fantastically luxurious life that was, in nearly every case, only afforded to them because of existing wealth. That's fucked up. What's even more fucked up is that it's stratifying more, not less. Succumbing to this very well-marketed idea that we're worth no more than our monetary value in a market is one of the driving factors.