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The point that I think your comment is missing is that if the vast majority of employers are colluding to drive down prices your feet will invariably lead you t

The point that I think your comment is missing is that if the vast majority of employers are colluding to drive down prices your feet will invariably lead you to a less profitable place overall. Also this response seems to indicate that an individual's actions will hold any meaning against the concerted and united effort of employers. Unless a multitude of others act in concert we, the developers, will be at a disadvantage.

eru 13y ago
The world is bigger than a few companies in Silicon Valley. Go work for a bank, in the worst case.
- DamnYuppie 13y ago
  You believe that this ends at Silicon Valley. This most likely is common practice across a multitude of companies and industries.
  - mindcrime 13y ago
    There's just no way that every (or even most) companies in, say, the US, are all collectively colluding to do much of anything, much less fix wages. There's a reason that cartels don't really work, and that's because somebody always has an incentive to cheat. Same deal here... even IF you got every single company to agree to fix programmer salaries, it would never hold up, because some member of the group would either find a way to pay more and disguise it somehow, or they'd flat out openly rebel and take their chances. Does this happen on a small scale among handfuls of companies? Almost certainly, as we've seen. But how much impact it has at a more macro level is certainly questionable.
    - DamnYuppie 13y ago
      It doesn't take every company, it realistically takes less then 30%. I have never seen companies trying to pay more then the bare minimum to get someone to fill the role. Being generous, sadly, isn't in the DNA of the majority of organizations. They always attempt to pay as little as needed.
      - eru 13y ago
        Of course they do. The secret ingredients are competition and bidding wars.
firstOrder 13y ago
Exactly. I can't think of a more inane comment to an article on how companies are colluding together to prevent their workers from getting better opportunities than "vote with your feet". How exactly do you "vote with your feet" when company management's are colluding together to prevent just that? Management and ownership has not only been organizing to protect their interests, they've even crossed the line into breaking the law, as they did here. They seem to have done well for themselves by organizing together for their collective interests, I think it would be a good idea for tech workers to take a page from their play book and do the same.

eru 13y ago

The world is bigger than a few companies in Silicon Valley. Go work for a bank, in the worst case.

DamnYuppie 13y ago
You believe that this ends at Silicon Valley. This most likely is common practice across a multitude of companies and industries.
- mindcrime 13y ago
  There's just no way that every (or even most) companies in, say, the US, are all collectively colluding to do much of anything, much less fix wages. There's a reason that cartels don't really work, and that's because somebody always has an incentive to cheat. Same deal here... even IF you got every single company to agree to fix programmer salaries, it would never hold up, because some member of the group would either find a way to pay more and disguise it somehow, or they'd flat out openly rebel and take their chances. Does this happen on a small scale among handfuls of companies? Almost certainly, as we've seen. But how much impact it has at a more macro level is certainly questionable.
  - DamnYuppie 13y ago
    It doesn't take every company, it realistically takes less then 30%. I have never seen companies trying to pay more then the bare minimum to get someone to fill the role. Being generous, sadly, isn't in the DNA of the majority of organizations. They always attempt to pay as little as needed.
    - eru 13y ago
      Of course they do. The secret ingredients are competition and bidding wars.

firstOrder 13y ago

Exactly. I can't think of a more inane comment to an article on how companies are colluding together to prevent their workers from getting better opportunities than "vote with your feet". How exactly do you "vote with your feet" when company management's are colluding together to prevent just that? Management and ownership has not only been organizing to protect their interests, they've even crossed the line into breaking the law, as they did here. They seem to have done well for themselves by organizing together for their collective interests, I think it would be a good idea for tech workers to take a page from their play book and do the same.