4 ms·

The best way to harness this is to offer what companies don't: unlimited time off, no return-to-office, health insurance and savings plans that don't kick-back

by irq-1 2y ago

The best way to harness this is to offer what companies don't: unlimited time off, no return-to-office, health insurance and savings plans that don't kick-back to the company, flat(ter) management, no all-hands meetings...

schmookeeg 2y ago
I'm overemployed as a 40+ but this would get a CV from me pretty quickly. Offer some part-time options and you'll get a custom-crafted cover letter professing my love and why I am a perfect fit as well. :)
- DougN7 2y ago
  Part time sounds magical. I think there would be a ton of very talented people interested in only working (and being paid for) 20 hours/week.
  - glenneroo 2y ago
    I've been doing 20 hours/week with occasional "overtime" periods i.e. 30-40 hours during crunch for the last 15 years and can't imagine ever doing full-time again. The QoL improvements are truly unbeatable, granted I take a huge pay-cut but life is more important than money.
    - gallamine 2y ago
      Does your employer call you a part-time worker or are you a consultant for those hours?
      - conductr 2y ago
        As an employer, expecting all the benefits listed in top of thread (unlimited time off, health benefits, etc) and part time status combined with what is likely a pay rate high enough to do well on part time income, etc. This type of expectation is exactly why you’re unemployed for >1 year. If you actually want work you can find it. You’re effectively being stubborn on trying to sell a $1m house that the market values at $500k. No one is going to force you to lower your prices but the market isn’t sad about your house being unsold for over a year either. The market is moving without you. I’m sure there’s various nuances to this and I’m assuming you are actively looking for work versus passively waiting for a perfect situation where a buyer loves your house enough to pay a premium but this actually sounds kinda disconnected from reality if that’s not the case.
        em-bee 2y ago
        in germany that's actually the law (except for the unlimited time off). you can't hire a contractor on a permanent part-time basis unless that contractor has other clients at the same time. and the rest of the argument makes no sense. even as a contractor you'll have to pay enough to make up for the benefits they'd otherwise be getting (pro-rated of course. half the work time means half the value of benefits included). the average contracting rate is twice as high as the average salary for a reason.
        conductr 2y ago
        Does the law require hiring German talent? I wasn’t really trying to make a global statement. The audience here skews a certain way and My assumption is this attitude is the US Bay Area tech workers, or other exFAANG, used to making >$300k USD and would be glad to make make half part time, probably living in another locale where that translates to megabucks and they still get all the other benefits. It just doesn’t exist for a reason here.
        em-bee 2y ago
        ok, with those assumptions, i agree of course. it doesn't make sense to expect bay area pay for remote work. full or part-time. but i don't see that expectation in the thread, which is why your response seemed a bit odd. for myself i'd be happy with $50k USD remote part-time. is that more realistic?
        conductr 2y ago
        I'm talking in generalizations of course. Although I did a quick google search and it seems you are asking roughly 1.5-2x going rates in Germany even for experienced devs. I'm sure your more aware of market rates in your locale than me but it feels like I'm paying a premium at this price. For me, it would have to match up with some specialized skills or some 'reason' to justify it. The larger view I hold, that many don't agree with, is a) if I've already decided to go remote and b) my budget is $50k then c) I could hire a small team in India/Asia. I've personally never had problems sourcing talent in those locales with my types of workloads; which I admit are rather basic (web apps, ios, devops, etc). I'm not sure if that would be the case if I was building something hard like a new database or something.
      - glenneroo 2y ago
        Part-time. When I put in overtime, I book those hours into our time-management system which I can use at a later date to take time off when things slow down.
readthenotes1 2y ago
Sounds like a good charitable endeavor.
missedthecue 2y ago
"no one is accepting my current price, so the solution is to increase my demands"?
bruce511 2y ago
We had unlimited leave for dome senior employees for a while. Those employees ended up taking less leave than they did before and so we canned it. We have generous leave allowances (18 working days at a starting level.) We also have a flexible sick leave policy - there is a fixed amount but we've extended that for individuals on occasion when the situation demanded it (long hospital stays etc.) So in theory unlimited time off sounds good, but in practice its not a perk.
- irq-1 2y ago
  I was thinking of part-time work with unlimited time off: no expectations of normal working hours, or taking multiple months off. But you're right about time-off/sick days when the expectation is working a regular, full time job. *! I was also assuming half the pay, but didn't write that either...
dabockster 2y ago
The amount of job postings I've been seeing in Seattle from jobs of all kinds, not just tech, that aren't even offering health insurance for full time work is absolutely ridiculous.
gaws 2y ago
> unlimited time off Unlimited PTO is a scam. Instead, offer a generous amount of time off from the jump: Three to four weeks per year, with an option to roll over a portion each year and cash out the rest.

by irq-1 2y ago

schmookeeg 2y ago

I'm overemployed as a 40+ but this would get a CV from me pretty quickly. Offer some part-time options and you'll get a custom-crafted cover letter professing my love and why I am a perfect fit as well. :)

DougN7 2y ago
Part time sounds magical. I think there would be a ton of very talented people interested in only working (and being paid for) 20 hours/week.
- glenneroo 2y ago
  I've been doing 20 hours/week with occasional "overtime" periods i.e. 30-40 hours during crunch for the last 15 years and can't imagine ever doing full-time again. The QoL improvements are truly unbeatable, granted I take a huge pay-cut but life is more important than money.
  - gallamine 2y ago
    Does your employer call you a part-time worker or are you a consultant for those hours?
    - conductr 2y ago
      As an employer, expecting all the benefits listed in top of thread (unlimited time off, health benefits, etc) and part time status combined with what is likely a pay rate high enough to do well on part time income, etc. This type of expectation is exactly why you’re unemployed for >1 year. If you actually want work you can find it. You’re effectively being stubborn on trying to sell a $1m house that the market values at $500k. No one is going to force you to lower your prices but the market isn’t sad about your house being unsold for over a year either. The market is moving without you. I’m sure there’s various nuances to this and I’m assuming you are actively looking for work versus passively waiting for a perfect situation where a buyer loves your house enough to pay a premium but this actually sounds kinda disconnected from reality if that’s not the case.
      - em-bee 2y ago
        in germany that's actually the law (except for the unlimited time off). you can't hire a contractor on a permanent part-time basis unless that contractor has other clients at the same time. and the rest of the argument makes no sense. even as a contractor you'll have to pay enough to make up for the benefits they'd otherwise be getting (pro-rated of course. half the work time means half the value of benefits included). the average contracting rate is twice as high as the average salary for a reason.
        conductr 2y ago
        Does the law require hiring German talent? I wasn’t really trying to make a global statement. The audience here skews a certain way and My assumption is this attitude is the US Bay Area tech workers, or other exFAANG, used to making >$300k USD and would be glad to make make half part time, probably living in another locale where that translates to megabucks and they still get all the other benefits. It just doesn’t exist for a reason here.
        em-bee 2y ago
        ok, with those assumptions, i agree of course. it doesn't make sense to expect bay area pay for remote work. full or part-time. but i don't see that expectation in the thread, which is why your response seemed a bit odd. for myself i'd be happy with $50k USD remote part-time. is that more realistic?
        conductr 2y ago
        I'm talking in generalizations of course. Although I did a quick google search and it seems you are asking roughly 1.5-2x going rates in Germany even for experienced devs. I'm sure your more aware of market rates in your locale than me but it feels like I'm paying a premium at this price. For me, it would have to match up with some specialized skills or some 'reason' to justify it. The larger view I hold, that many don't agree with, is a) if I've already decided to go remote and b) my budget is $50k then c) I could hire a small team in India/Asia. I've personally never had problems sourcing talent in those locales with my types of workloads; which I admit are rather basic (web apps, ios, devops, etc). I'm not sure if that would be the case if I was building something hard like a new database or something.
    - glenneroo 2y ago
      Part-time. When I put in overtime, I book those hours into our time-management system which I can use at a later date to take time off when things slow down.

readthenotes1 2y ago

Sounds like a good charitable endeavor.

missedthecue 2y ago

"no one is accepting my current price, so the solution is to increase my demands"?

bruce511 2y ago

We had unlimited leave for dome senior employees for a while. Those employees ended up taking less leave than they did before and so we canned it. We have generous leave allowances (18 working days at a starting level.) We also have a flexible sick leave policy - there is a fixed amount but we've extended that for individuals on occasion when the situation demanded it (long hospital stays etc.) So in theory unlimited time off sounds good, but in practice its not a perk.

irq-1 2y ago
I was thinking of part-time work with unlimited time off: no expectations of normal working hours, or taking multiple months off. But you're right about time-off/sick days when the expectation is working a regular, full time job. *! I was also assuming half the pay, but didn't write that either...

dabockster 2y ago

The amount of job postings I've been seeing in Seattle from jobs of all kinds, not just tech, that aren't even offering health insurance for full time work is absolutely ridiculous.

gaws 2y ago

> unlimited time off Unlimited PTO is a scam. Instead, offer a generous amount of time off from the jump: Three to four weeks per year, with an option to roll over a portion each year and cash out the rest.