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You know how Facebook became a popular employer among new CS grads, by paying more than anyone else? You know that book/movie, "The Firm", in which the new law
by neilv 10mo ago
You know how Facebook became a popular employer among new CS grads, by paying more than anyone else?
You know that book/movie, "The Firm", in which the new law school graduate gets a surprisingly lucrative job offer? (spoilers) It turns out that the reason is Crime.
- hrimfaxi 10mo agoWhat point are you trying to make? Any company offering above market compensation is engaging in illegal activity?
- hananova 10mo agoYes. But only because every company is engaging in illegal activity, big tech just more so.
- jrnng 10mo agoLow ethics high pay? Higher margins from lower ethics? At some point does complacency with scammers become racketeering or criminals conspiracy? Knowledge is an element of crime and they know people are being scammed yet look away from it.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 10mo agoWhat point are you trying to make? That Facebook is not trying to push the boundary of laws and ethics?
- OGEnthusiast 10mo agoSure seems that way, no?
- deepspace 10mo agoNot always- see Costco. But in a world where every company is trying to minimize expenses to maximize profits, paying significantly above market is at the very least an indicator that there may be something fishy going on.
- david_shaw 10mo agoIt's a valid business strategy to hire the best and brightest in the field, and to pay higher than average to attract that talent -- if you can afford it. "Big law" firms are a good example of this too: they pay way more than some random family law practice.
- tyre 10mo agoYes and what do large, white shoe law firms work on primarily? The largest clients are the ones with lots of…legal activity. What types of clients might those be?
- xboxnolifes 10mo agoThe "if you can afford it" is pulling all the weight there. Why can certain companies afford it more than others in the same market? The context of this thread is suggesting that those companies are doing more crime or crime-adjacent activities.
- david_shaw 10mo agoSure, I understand the thread's implication and I'm certainly not saying that it's never true. But some companies have the choice of hiring, for example, one really great engineer for $500k, and one very solid one for $250k. Another organization might want to hire three engineers for $250k. A third, perhaps, wants to hire seven at $100k. They're all spending the same amount of money, but not every company can "afford" that spend -- especially if they need several engineers working on unique feature sets. I just think it's a leap to say that every company paying more than average market value is criminal.
- aeonik 10mo agoCostco's IT department is not above market rates in the Seattle area fyi.
- trymas 10mo agoHow I understood OP - is that Costco pays better than other big retailers. Also probably not only for IT department, but on average (including cashiers and such).
- onion2k 10mo agoAny company offering above market compensation is engaging in illegal activity? To quote Randall Munroe, "Correlation doesn't imply causation, but it does waggle its eyebrows suggestively and gesture furtively while mouthing 'look over there'." https://xkcd.com/552/ https://xkcd.com/552/
- moolcool 10mo agoI don't think he implied that. Criminality and ghoulish ethics are just one of many reasons a company may offer above market compensation.
- conartist6 10mo agoIt's a short leap from "the hacker company" to "the scammer company". A short and very, very, very profitable leap
- yencabulator 10mo agoFacebook was never "the hacker company". Zuck was a scammer himself when it was still TheFacebook. Zuckerberg: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard Zuckerberg: Just ask Zuckerberg: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS [Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one? Zuckerberg: People just submitted it. Zuckerberg: I don't know why. Zuckerberg: They "trust me" Zuckerberg: Dumb fucks