5 ms·

I'm in the UK and have been applying for dev jobs over the last six months. I've had at least five approaches from recruiters representing gambling companies. T

I'm in the UK and have been applying for dev jobs over the last six months. I've had at least five approaches from recruiters representing gambling companies. They seem to have a lot of money to spend on salaries, and promise experience of languages like Go, and also ML, data science, etc. I always give them the same answer: no. I don't work for parasites. I remember the time before the Blair government unwisely deregulated gambling, and I hope we can one day return to that.

pclmulqdq 2y ago
Are there any other parasites you wouldn't work for?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- urbandw311er 2y ago
  Not the parent poster but maybe certain banks and financial institutions
noneeeed 2y ago
Likewise. I will happily work in the vast majority of legal industries in the UK, they all have varying degrees of social good about them. I might not get a warm fuzzy feeling about all of them, but a job's a job. But I won't touch gambling, especially in the UK. It a nasty, predatory industry that preys on people. They know they are doing it, but they hide behind BS excuses and empty promises, and time after time investigations clearly show they intentionally goad on problem gamblers. To be clear, this isn't a moral objection to people gambling. If you enjoy it, and are in control, then have fun. It's the companies, they are scum.
giantg2 2y ago
I hate them, but I'd probably work for them. There's a lot to hate about places like big tech, finance, energy, and basically every other sector. It would probably soul crushing, but so is my current job.
- andyjohnson0 2y ago
  My opinion is that gambling crushes other people's souls. I'm not going to do that.
  - giantg2 2y ago
    What do you do that doesn't crush souls?
    - nejsjsjsbsb 2y ago
      Podiatry?
      - giantg2 2y ago
        Isn't it possible you could make a mistake that maimed someone? Or that the medical billing is burdensome to some people? On the whole you might be helping people, but I would think there's a small minority that is negatively impacted too.
        selbyk 2y ago
        What benefit does gambling have?
        giantg2 2y ago
        Entertainment
- Tostino 2y ago
  I don't think me hating my current job would make me more willing to work on products that have a very real, measurable harm to the population as a whole, just for some more money.
  - giantg2 2y ago
bbrks 2y ago
UK tech job pay is very bimodal and unfortunately both modes suck in different ways... In the major mode, it feels like 90% are gambling, crypto or traditional finance. The remaining 10% are US tech companies getting a bit more for their money over here. Not sure how much longer that last subcategory will last. Most of these jobs will leave you wanting a good scrub in a scalding shower. Even the US ones. The minor mode are where you'll find roles at UK-based tech companies, non-tech companies requiring programmers, web developers, etc. etc. The scope is vast and the pay is meh... and maybe my sample size is far too small and time-biased here, but I find the people at these places are so much more down to Earth, operate in a wider spectrum of fields and life experiences, and are just way more interesting and varied day-to-day than endless tech hype drudgery. You wouldn't have guessed, but for the last 7 years, I have not been in a job at a minor mode company... and maybe the greener grass is glistening rather brightly right now! We have a pretty abysmal tech landscape really given our involvement in computing history. It has all been sold off and gradually moved offshore. Europe has a reasonably heathly and open tech industry, albiet at a smaller scale than US, but of course us British are not allowed to play with them any more!
- throwaway2037 2y ago
  > traditional finance I would go further and separate tech jobs between (a) commercial banking and (b) "markets" (trading) at investment banks. There is a huge pay gap between them.
jamesfinlayson 2y ago
> I remember the time before the Blair government unwisely deregulated gambling Not sure when that was but in Australia a similar decision was made in... 2007 or 2008 maybe? It feels like it has been a constant race to the bottom with endless competing companies trying to out-do each other with enticements to bring in new/re-engage existing players (none of whom have any loyalty anyway). I know monopolies have their issues but I don't remember it being like this when there was a single operator (yes there have always been problem gamblers but 20 years there wasn't wall to wall advertising, deposit-matching, odds-boost etc).
chickenimprint 2y ago
A just, healthy society would target and remove those who enrich themselves at the expense of others. The continued existence of society rests upon cooperation beating defection. The exponential rise of legal gambling in the western world is a massive blow to public trust in institutions who were supposed to act in the interest of the people, and a sign of rampant corruption and societal decay.
southernplaces7 2y ago
>I always give them the same answer: no. I don't work for parasites. Feel like specifying what makes them so distinctly more parasitic than, say, a company like Google or Facebook? Both of which many people here seem to have no trouble working for.
- snakeyjake 2y ago
  The number of people who have lost all of their money and then killed themselves using Google and Facebook is not zero. It's a fuckton lower than the number of people who have lost all of their money and then killed themselves due to betting. The morality line for me is at an unknown and unknowable (and you'll just have to deal with that I am a human not a computer) position that is higher than Google/Facebook and lower than gambling apps. edit: lol no never mind, on further self-examination I would rather starve to death under a bridge than work at facebook trying to figure out how to use AI to addict people so that they buy dropshipped garbage from our advertisers and not the other guys.
  - southernplaces7 2y ago
    Fair enough, and i'm glad you actually paused to give the question some consideration. I'm a strong believer in people being responsible for their own actions in the face of voluntary options, and free to reject the entreaties of companies whose primary and paramount interest is their own financial benefit at your expense. Gambling companies are a near perfect example of such companies since they sell little more than transient, vapid "fun" at the risk of you completely wrecking your life, but one still can choose. (Yes I know there are also people with a tremendous psychological addiction to gambling, but it's tricky to form both rules or general moral guidelines based on a small subset) In the case of Google and Facebook (and a few others), some sorts of genuine services are available and they can at least claim by these services to be of a different character from some betting company. However, the case of either business type, a core motivation remains extracting as much as possible from users through mendacious, manipulative means while addicting them into continually using their systems for as long and intensely as possible. In this, they're remarkably similar to your average betting company, except the currency they desire is instead of money directly, your information and attention, and as much of both as possible for as long as possible.

pclmulqdq 2y ago

Are there any other parasites you wouldn't work for?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
urbandw311er 2y ago
Not the parent poster but maybe certain banks and financial institutions

noneeeed 2y ago

Likewise. I will happily work in the vast majority of legal industries in the UK, they all have varying degrees of social good about them. I might not get a warm fuzzy feeling about all of them, but a job's a job. But I won't touch gambling, especially in the UK. It a nasty, predatory industry that preys on people. They know they are doing it, but they hide behind BS excuses and empty promises, and time after time investigations clearly show they intentionally goad on problem gamblers. To be clear, this isn't a moral objection to people gambling. If you enjoy it, and are in control, then have fun. It's the companies, they are scum.

giantg2 2y ago

I hate them, but I'd probably work for them. There's a lot to hate about places like big tech, finance, energy, and basically every other sector. It would probably soul crushing, but so is my current job.

andyjohnson0 2y ago
My opinion is that gambling crushes other people's souls. I'm not going to do that.
- giantg2 2y ago
  What do you do that doesn't crush souls?
  - nejsjsjsbsb 2y ago
    Podiatry?
    - giantg2 2y ago
      Isn't it possible you could make a mistake that maimed someone? Or that the medical billing is burdensome to some people? On the whole you might be helping people, but I would think there's a small minority that is negatively impacted too.
      - selbyk 2y ago
        What benefit does gambling have?
        giantg2 2y ago
        Entertainment
Tostino 2y ago
I don't think me hating my current job would make me more willing to work on products that have a very real, measurable harm to the population as a whole, just for some more money.
- giantg2 2y ago

bbrks 2y ago

UK tech job pay is very bimodal and unfortunately both modes suck in different ways... In the major mode, it feels like 90% are gambling, crypto or traditional finance. The remaining 10% are US tech companies getting a bit more for their money over here. Not sure how much longer that last subcategory will last. Most of these jobs will leave you wanting a good scrub in a scalding shower. Even the US ones. The minor mode are where you'll find roles at UK-based tech companies, non-tech companies requiring programmers, web developers, etc. etc. The scope is vast and the pay is meh... and maybe my sample size is far too small and time-biased here, but I find the people at these places are so much more down to Earth, operate in a wider spectrum of fields and life experiences, and are just way more interesting and varied day-to-day than endless tech hype drudgery. You wouldn't have guessed, but for the last 7 years, I have not been in a job at a minor mode company... and maybe the greener grass is glistening rather brightly right now! We have a pretty abysmal tech landscape really given our involvement in computing history. It has all been sold off and gradually moved offshore. Europe has a reasonably heathly and open tech industry, albiet at a smaller scale than US, but of course us British are not allowed to play with them any more!

throwaway2037 2y ago
> traditional finance I would go further and separate tech jobs between (a) commercial banking and (b) "markets" (trading) at investment banks. There is a huge pay gap between them.

jamesfinlayson 2y ago

> I remember the time before the Blair government unwisely deregulated gambling Not sure when that was but in Australia a similar decision was made in... 2007 or 2008 maybe? It feels like it has been a constant race to the bottom with endless competing companies trying to out-do each other with enticements to bring in new/re-engage existing players (none of whom have any loyalty anyway). I know monopolies have their issues but I don't remember it being like this when there was a single operator (yes there have always been problem gamblers but 20 years there wasn't wall to wall advertising, deposit-matching, odds-boost etc).

chickenimprint 2y ago

A just, healthy society would target and remove those who enrich themselves at the expense of others. The continued existence of society rests upon cooperation beating defection. The exponential rise of legal gambling in the western world is a massive blow to public trust in institutions who were supposed to act in the interest of the people, and a sign of rampant corruption and societal decay.

southernplaces7 2y ago

>I always give them the same answer: no. I don't work for parasites. Feel like specifying what makes them so distinctly more parasitic than, say, a company like Google or Facebook? Both of which many people here seem to have no trouble working for.

snakeyjake 2y ago
The number of people who have lost all of their money and then killed themselves using Google and Facebook is not zero. It's a fuckton lower than the number of people who have lost all of their money and then killed themselves due to betting. The morality line for me is at an unknown and unknowable (and you'll just have to deal with that I am a human not a computer) position that is higher than Google/Facebook and lower than gambling apps. edit: lol no never mind, on further self-examination I would rather starve to death under a bridge than work at facebook trying to figure out how to use AI to addict people so that they buy dropshipped garbage from our advertisers and not the other guys.
- southernplaces7 2y ago
  Fair enough, and i'm glad you actually paused to give the question some consideration. I'm a strong believer in people being responsible for their own actions in the face of voluntary options, and free to reject the entreaties of companies whose primary and paramount interest is their own financial benefit at your expense. Gambling companies are a near perfect example of such companies since they sell little more than transient, vapid "fun" at the risk of you completely wrecking your life, but one still can choose. (Yes I know there are also people with a tremendous psychological addiction to gambling, but it's tricky to form both rules or general moral guidelines based on a small subset) In the case of Google and Facebook (and a few others), some sorts of genuine services are available and they can at least claim by these services to be of a different character from some betting company. However, the case of either business type, a core motivation remains extracting as much as possible from users through mendacious, manipulative means while addicting them into continually using their systems for as long and intensely as possible. In this, they're remarkably similar to your average betting company, except the currency they desire is instead of money directly, your information and attention, and as much of both as possible for as long as possible.