4 ms·

I think the free market does an absolutely wonderful job of creating amazing conditions for workers that are in high demand. For top tier programmers (which ar

by Fede_V 12y ago

I think the free market does an absolutely wonderful job of creating amazing conditions for workers that are in high demand. For top tier programmers (which are highly over-represented in this forum) working in tech hubs, you can look forward to lots of work perks, smart managers, career progression, and excellent pay. Working long hours in an interesting job with a manager who supports you is usually not that big a burden. Labour regulations aren't really designed for this community. You have to take into account the people who lack the education or aptitude to work a challenging job - and those people will be ruthlessly crushed and exploited unless the government steps in and provides a floor.

spacecowboy_lon 12y ago
Explain stack ranking and PRP then
- Fede_V 12y ago
  Those are pretty terrible (and I've heard that at least MS finally got rid of stack ranking) but compared to the kind of shit that an employee at a fast food chain has to go through, it's a blissful paradise. Until they were shamed in the mainstream media, Starbucks used to treat employees schedules as linear optimization problems without any regard for the human beings behind them: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/starbucks-workers-scheduling-hours.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/starbucks-w... """Last month, she was scheduled to work until 11 p.m. on Friday, July 4; report again just hours later, at 4 a.m. on Saturday; and start again at 5 a.m. on Sunday."""
  - texthompson 12y ago
    Couldn't Starbucks just add another optimization term that demands a minimum amount of time off?
    - EliRivers 12y ago
      Yes, they could do, but then they might have to have another employee or some other such that means they make a little less profit, so fuck the workers, if they don't want the job there's some other sucker who'll thank me for the chance to be exploited.
      - texthompson 12y ago
        That makes sense. I was thinking that this sounds more like a problem with corporate culture, rather than a problem with optimization. If you have a culture that doesn't value your workers, any effective optimization method will lead to outcomes like this.

by Fede_V 12y ago

spacecowboy_lon 12y ago

Explain stack ranking and PRP then

Fede_V 12y ago
Those are pretty terrible (and I've heard that at least MS finally got rid of stack ranking) but compared to the kind of shit that an employee at a fast food chain has to go through, it's a blissful paradise. Until they were shamed in the mainstream media, Starbucks used to treat employees schedules as linear optimization problems without any regard for the human beings behind them: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/starbucks-workers-scheduling-hours.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/starbucks-w... """Last month, she was scheduled to work until 11 p.m. on Friday, July 4; report again just hours later, at 4 a.m. on Saturday; and start again at 5 a.m. on Sunday."""
- texthompson 12y ago
  Couldn't Starbucks just add another optimization term that demands a minimum amount of time off?
  - EliRivers 12y ago
    Yes, they could do, but then they might have to have another employee or some other such that means they make a little less profit, so fuck the workers, if they don't want the job there's some other sucker who'll thank me for the chance to be exploited.
    - texthompson 12y ago
      That makes sense. I was thinking that this sounds more like a problem with corporate culture, rather than a problem with optimization. If you have a culture that doesn't value your workers, any effective optimization method will lead to outcomes like this.