3 ms·

It is sickening that a talented guy can't get a job just because he needs to work part time to manage a disease.

teacup50 12y ago
Really? Sickening? There are any number of candidates available that won't require special consideration to manage a disease, so why should someone solely take on the charity burden of giving this fellow a job?
- bbcbasic 12y ago
  No charity is required. Infact it is profitable to hire this guy. What is required is getting rid of pointless constraints. Part time? You get a talented developer for 30 hours a week, paying the same hourly rate as everyone else. Working from home? Depending on the role he may be even more productive than those in the office. I have just two more words to say about it: 37 Signals.
  - teacup50 12y ago
    > No charity is required. Infact it is profitable to hire this guy. What is required is getting rid of pointless constraints. Pointless constraints like being a reliable employee? > Part time? You get a talented developer for 30 hours a week, paying the same hourly rate as everyone else. Why would you want a part time engineer if you can have an (at least!) equally talented full time engineer? > Working from home? Depending on the role he may be even more productive than those in the office. If you want an employee that can work from home, there are plenty of them that won't be sick half the time. > I have just two more words to say about it: 37 Signals.* What does 37 Signals have to do with anything? There's nothing to indicate that cargo culting a small aspect of their company's working model has anything to do with creating a similar outcome.
    - bbcbasic 12y ago
      Who said he is unreliable? Maybe he is, in which case that is a different matter. I find that 'work from home' jobs tend to pay less and therein lies the balance. The advantage to the employer is to pay less for the employee and save on office space. The advantage to the employee is obviously the flexibility that gives them and not needing to commute. 30 hours is part time but it isn't like asking for 10 hours a week. It is almost full time (40hours). I hear a lot on HN and other places online about American companies requiring lots of hours of their developers even though they are supposed to work 40hours. So that could be the difference we are seeing. In Europe/Australia this is not expected generally, except in certain industries like Finance. 37 signals are successful despite letting people work from home. I had a previous employer who isn't famous or anything but had many developers work from other countries with time zone challenges. It can be done. In a pure, zero-charity, capitalist world there should still be jobs for people with diseases like this who can work. They have something to offer and the market will meet a fair price on it. It may be a lower price than a fit person, but there could still be a beneficial situation to both the employer and the employee.
burkaman 12y ago
This is sickening: "I’m suffering from chronic pain, and there’s no way I can afford the $1,000 or so to get the physical therapy I need to manage this, much less the $15,000-30,000 I’d need to get the real treatments to fix my body." It's not really sickening or surprising that he's having trouble getting a job though. I mean his writing seems decent enough, but is there really much demand for video game reviewers? Let alone the fact that he has to work part time, and can't be reliably counted on to attend events or even stand in front of a camera. It would not surprise or sicken me if a perfectly healthy video game blogger couldn't find a job. This guy's situation sucks, but society and/or the government should be helping him, not some charitable employer.

Really? Sickening? There are any number of candidates available that won't require special consideration to manage a disease, so why should someone solely take on the charity burden of giving this fellow a job?

bbcbasic 12y ago
No charity is required. Infact it is profitable to hire this guy. What is required is getting rid of pointless constraints. Part time? You get a talented developer for 30 hours a week, paying the same hourly rate as everyone else. Working from home? Depending on the role he may be even more productive than those in the office. I have just two more words to say about it: 37 Signals.
- teacup50 12y ago
  > No charity is required. Infact it is profitable to hire this guy. What is required is getting rid of pointless constraints. Pointless constraints like being a reliable employee? > Part time? You get a talented developer for 30 hours a week, paying the same hourly rate as everyone else. Why would you want a part time engineer if you can have an (at least!) equally talented full time engineer? > Working from home? Depending on the role he may be even more productive than those in the office. If you want an employee that can work from home, there are plenty of them that won't be sick half the time. > I have just two more words to say about it: 37 Signals.* What does 37 Signals have to do with anything? There's nothing to indicate that cargo culting a small aspect of their company's working model has anything to do with creating a similar outcome.
  - bbcbasic 12y ago
    Who said he is unreliable? Maybe he is, in which case that is a different matter. I find that 'work from home' jobs tend to pay less and therein lies the balance. The advantage to the employer is to pay less for the employee and save on office space. The advantage to the employee is obviously the flexibility that gives them and not needing to commute. 30 hours is part time but it isn't like asking for 10 hours a week. It is almost full time (40hours). I hear a lot on HN and other places online about American companies requiring lots of hours of their developers even though they are supposed to work 40hours. So that could be the difference we are seeing. In Europe/Australia this is not expected generally, except in certain industries like Finance. 37 signals are successful despite letting people work from home. I had a previous employer who isn't famous or anything but had many developers work from other countries with time zone challenges. It can be done. In a pure, zero-charity, capitalist world there should still be jobs for people with diseases like this who can work. They have something to offer and the market will meet a fair price on it. It may be a lower price than a fit person, but there could still be a beneficial situation to both the employer and the employee.

burkaman 12y ago

This is sickening: "I’m suffering from chronic pain, and there’s no way I can afford the $1,000 or so to get the physical therapy I need to manage this, much less the $15,000-30,000 I’d need to get the real treatments to fix my body." It's not really sickening or surprising that he's having trouble getting a job though. I mean his writing seems decent enough, but is there really much demand for video game reviewers? Let alone the fact that he has to work part time, and can't be reliably counted on to attend events or even stand in front of a camera. It would not surprise or sicken me if a perfectly healthy video game blogger couldn't find a job. This guy's situation sucks, but society and/or the government should be helping him, not some charitable employer.