5 ms·

Ask HN: Would you go work for Facebook ("Meta")?

11 points by puttycat 2y ago

Well, the question is self-explanatory.

bravetraveler 2y ago
I'd leave the industry and return to poverty first. I can handle toxicity but that's a stretch too far for me
solardev 2y ago
Nope, they could pay me ten million a year and I'd say no. OK but fine, everyone has their price. If they paid me a billion a year I might say yes, then just work for a month or two and then donate most of it to charity. While I do appreciate some of their products (React which I use, Quest which I don't have), I think by and large their revenue makers (Facebook, Instagram, I don't know what else they have) are a net negative to society. The commodification of community for profit was a bad move and will eventually result, IMO, in the worldwide downfall of democracies. I think our kids will have it pretty rough in no small part because of Meta, but hey, at least we got to share vacation photos and cat videos.
wojciii 2y ago
No amount of money would make me want to work for the likes of Meta or Amazon. The planet is fucked up as it already is.
jethronethro 2y ago
No. I just wouldn't feel good about myself working for a company like Meta, regardless of how interesting the work was, how much I'd be learning, or how much I was earning.
rstuart4133 2y ago
Everybody here seems to be judging them on their products. I don't use their products either - they far too invasive for me. But then I don't use the products I create at the company I work for either - it's a B2B thing. I'd be going there do to software engineering. As a software engineering firm I rate them highly. Their products are solid. Video chat is reliable for example, far more reliable than say Teams, and I suspect works at much larger scale. They operate at massive scale, yet outages are rare. They grok open source, and they make numerous contributions to the area. Most recently llama 2 has given open source tinkers a leg up with AI. Thank you Meta. I have no idea what their culture is like internally, but hey working with people who are among the best at what they do is always attractive. If their engineering culture isn't unpleasant I'd don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to work there as a software engineer.
null_investor 2y ago
No, it's cursed money. At first sight, the compensation and interesting problems will spark your brain, but it will rip your soul apart. Would you work in a weapons manufacturer when your country is invading a poor country? That's what Meta is doing, but worldwide, with people's brains, abusing people's weaknesses and changing the fabric of society. I'm surprised EU and other countries haven't just blocked that spyware crap. Look what it's doing to kids and the younger generation. Leave it to Americans.
usgroup 2y ago
Meta occupies the "biggest X in the world spot". It is difficult to separate controversy specific to Meta from controversy inherent in occupying that spot. I think resultantly many people are agnostic to the ethics, for whom considerations on the basis of career progress, access to high tech and so on, is a much simpler decision criteria.
rboyd 2y ago
Maybe unpopular. I definitely would work there for the right role. Besides all of the negative attention the company has drawn, they've also done a lot of good for the world that mostly goes unrecognized. I wouldn't be with my wife and have my family if it weren't for Facebook. They're also invested in future tech which has great potential to be a net good for humanity. A lot of their open source and research gets released for public use. I rejected a down-level offer from Meta a couple of years ago and I sometimes wonder if that was the wrong move.
brokenalgo 2y ago
[flagged]
mcherm 2y ago
I am not a fan of many of their products, and I have turned down hiring managers at meta before. But I wouldn't rule out working for the company. Look, I am old enough to remember the time when Microsoft was the antithesis (and sworn enemy) of the open source movement. Yet today, they are a completely different company. So, even if there are some things I don't like about Meta, I would still seriously consider any particular offer, and decide whether to accept it based on the details of the position, not the reputation of the company.
wageslave99 2y ago
Yes, for sure. I would be there some years, get some experience and skills and get out.
- zerr 2y ago
  My understanding is that, unless you are not a fresh grad on the junior role, you are expected to dive into the tickets to churn out lots of code in your particular existing expertise. That's what appreciated if you want a promotion.
  - wageslave99 2y ago
    There are a lot of places like this without the leverage that Meta can give you in the future. I think it is definitely a factor for being selected for future positions.
gadders 2y ago
If the money was good enough, definitely.
31337Logic 2y ago
Meta has approached me twice and I rejected both times. Money isn't everything.
codingdave 2y ago
If you are asking if we'd reject a well-paying job that is a good career boost because of a philosophical problem with how they operate... great, I'm all in favor of applying personal ethics to your work. But I'd encourage everyone to apply those same ethics to all jobs, not just Meta. After all, when you dig deep enough, most corporations are evil at some level. (Not all.) And most people are decent (or so I choose to believe.) So which is worse? Refusing to get some personal gain from an evil corporation with an evil leader? Or accepting the reality of it, taking a job from them, and using some of the resulting wealth to create positive impact in other areas of our world? There is no right answer to that question, BTW. Everyone has their own ethics. But there is more depth to be considered than just "Meta is evil, so reject job." (For the record, I don't know anyone in leadership at Meta, so I cannot say if they are actually evil or not, that statement is just for the sake of argument.)
- meiraleal 2y ago
  This reasoning is the same thought that led millions of germans to become nazis. Meta is not your common "evil" business.
  - shrimp_emoji 2y ago
    No, the reasoning was that they were saving their nation and dignity after the abuse they suffered in the peace terms from WW1 and from the looming Soviet Union. If it was an /r/amitheasshole post, the Nazis would definitely be the biggest asshole, but everyone in the situation would be assholes.
  - codingdave 2y ago
    Whoa - either I expressed myself really poorly, or you are just bent on applying Godwin's law as fast as you can.
    - meiraleal 2y ago
      Not really (I really like most if not all of your comments, this is the first time I recall disagreeing). Working for a company that brings such a net negative to society is not a matter of "most corporations are evil at some level". Facebook/Instagram/Meta (and Google) have such a negative influence in the minds of billions of people that honestly, they both already rival or might surpass how big and influential Nazi Germany ever was. If Meta was a company like others, this kind of Ask HN wouldn't be so common.
taylodl 2y ago
Depends. Would I learn anything interesting? Would anything I do have an impact at Meta or the greater world at large? Do I already have a job? Honestly, what gets me up in the morning is knowing that my work is meaningful to the modern world and that the quality of people's lives would be negatively impacted if I didn't do what I do. Meaningful work, no matter how small the impact, does a lot for your mental health. Just making money? It's not fulfilling and won't sustain your soul. But if you don't have a job at all, sure, I'd take it - let's be realistic, you need money to survive.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
tkiolp4 2y ago
Only if I can work 100% remotely.
- puttycat 2y ago
  Why?

11 points by puttycat 2y ago

Well, the question is self-explanatory.

bravetraveler 2y ago

I'd leave the industry and return to poverty first. I can handle toxicity but that's a stretch too far for me

solardev 2y ago

Nope, they could pay me ten million a year and I'd say no. OK but fine, everyone has their price. If they paid me a billion a year I might say yes, then just work for a month or two and then donate most of it to charity. While I do appreciate some of their products (React which I use, Quest which I don't have), I think by and large their revenue makers (Facebook, Instagram, I don't know what else they have) are a net negative to society. The commodification of community for profit was a bad move and will eventually result, IMO, in the worldwide downfall of democracies. I think our kids will have it pretty rough in no small part because of Meta, but hey, at least we got to share vacation photos and cat videos.

wojciii 2y ago

No amount of money would make me want to work for the likes of Meta or Amazon. The planet is fucked up as it already is.

jethronethro 2y ago

No. I just wouldn't feel good about myself working for a company like Meta, regardless of how interesting the work was, how much I'd be learning, or how much I was earning.

rstuart4133 2y ago

Everybody here seems to be judging them on their products. I don't use their products either - they far too invasive for me. But then I don't use the products I create at the company I work for either - it's a B2B thing. I'd be going there do to software engineering. As a software engineering firm I rate them highly. Their products are solid. Video chat is reliable for example, far more reliable than say Teams, and I suspect works at much larger scale. They operate at massive scale, yet outages are rare. They grok open source, and they make numerous contributions to the area. Most recently llama 2 has given open source tinkers a leg up with AI. Thank you Meta. I have no idea what their culture is like internally, but hey working with people who are among the best at what they do is always attractive. If their engineering culture isn't unpleasant I'd don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to work there as a software engineer.

null_investor 2y ago

No, it's cursed money. At first sight, the compensation and interesting problems will spark your brain, but it will rip your soul apart. Would you work in a weapons manufacturer when your country is invading a poor country? That's what Meta is doing, but worldwide, with people's brains, abusing people's weaknesses and changing the fabric of society. I'm surprised EU and other countries haven't just blocked that spyware crap. Look what it's doing to kids and the younger generation. Leave it to Americans.

usgroup 2y ago

Meta occupies the "biggest X in the world spot". It is difficult to separate controversy specific to Meta from controversy inherent in occupying that spot. I think resultantly many people are agnostic to the ethics, for whom considerations on the basis of career progress, access to high tech and so on, is a much simpler decision criteria.

rboyd 2y ago

Maybe unpopular. I definitely would work there for the right role. Besides all of the negative attention the company has drawn, they've also done a lot of good for the world that mostly goes unrecognized. I wouldn't be with my wife and have my family if it weren't for Facebook. They're also invested in future tech which has great potential to be a net good for humanity. A lot of their open source and research gets released for public use. I rejected a down-level offer from Meta a couple of years ago and I sometimes wonder if that was the wrong move.

brokenalgo 2y ago

[flagged]

mcherm 2y ago

I am not a fan of many of their products, and I have turned down hiring managers at meta before. But I wouldn't rule out working for the company. Look, I am old enough to remember the time when Microsoft was the antithesis (and sworn enemy) of the open source movement. Yet today, they are a completely different company. So, even if there are some things I don't like about Meta, I would still seriously consider any particular offer, and decide whether to accept it based on the details of the position, not the reputation of the company.

wageslave99 2y ago

Yes, for sure. I would be there some years, get some experience and skills and get out.

zerr 2y ago
My understanding is that, unless you are not a fresh grad on the junior role, you are expected to dive into the tickets to churn out lots of code in your particular existing expertise. That's what appreciated if you want a promotion.
- wageslave99 2y ago
  There are a lot of places like this without the leverage that Meta can give you in the future. I think it is definitely a factor for being selected for future positions.

gadders 2y ago

If the money was good enough, definitely.

31337Logic 2y ago

Meta has approached me twice and I rejected both times. Money isn't everything.

codingdave 2y ago

If you are asking if we'd reject a well-paying job that is a good career boost because of a philosophical problem with how they operate... great, I'm all in favor of applying personal ethics to your work. But I'd encourage everyone to apply those same ethics to all jobs, not just Meta. After all, when you dig deep enough, most corporations are evil at some level. (Not all.) And most people are decent (or so I choose to believe.) So which is worse? Refusing to get some personal gain from an evil corporation with an evil leader? Or accepting the reality of it, taking a job from them, and using some of the resulting wealth to create positive impact in other areas of our world? There is no right answer to that question, BTW. Everyone has their own ethics. But there is more depth to be considered than just "Meta is evil, so reject job." (For the record, I don't know anyone in leadership at Meta, so I cannot say if they are actually evil or not, that statement is just for the sake of argument.)

meiraleal 2y ago
This reasoning is the same thought that led millions of germans to become nazis. Meta is not your common "evil" business.
- shrimp_emoji 2y ago
  No, the reasoning was that they were saving their nation and dignity after the abuse they suffered in the peace terms from WW1 and from the looming Soviet Union. If it was an /r/amitheasshole post, the Nazis would definitely be the biggest asshole, but everyone in the situation would be assholes.
- codingdave 2y ago
  Whoa - either I expressed myself really poorly, or you are just bent on applying Godwin's law as fast as you can.
  - meiraleal 2y ago
    Not really (I really like most if not all of your comments, this is the first time I recall disagreeing). Working for a company that brings such a net negative to society is not a matter of "most corporations are evil at some level". Facebook/Instagram/Meta (and Google) have such a negative influence in the minds of billions of people that honestly, they both already rival or might surpass how big and influential Nazi Germany ever was. If Meta was a company like others, this kind of Ask HN wouldn't be so common.

taylodl 2y ago

Depends. Would I learn anything interesting? Would anything I do have an impact at Meta or the greater world at large? Do I already have a job? Honestly, what gets me up in the morning is knowing that my work is meaningful to the modern world and that the quality of people's lives would be negatively impacted if I didn't do what I do. Meaningful work, no matter how small the impact, does a lot for your mental health. Just making money? It's not fulfilling and won't sustain your soul. But if you don't have a job at all, sure, I'd take it - let's be realistic, you need money to survive.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

tkiolp4 2y ago

Only if I can work 100% remotely.

puttycat 2y ago
Why?