this doesn't seem like an Ask HN. you basically made a blog post conveying your position on something. except you did it here under the guise of Ask-ing HN something. ;)
So treat it like he's asking for rebuttal.
Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
31–40 of 44 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#32It is very simple, companies in the past expected hires to stay long time with the company, this is no longer the case, hence lack of any interest in training new hire.
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#33If this is about factory work, yes, training is necessary.
If this is about software development it's not clear to me what sort of training we are talking about. I've had to train myself at every job, that's part of what I do. I can't imagine how training would work. Classes in some programming language perhaps? It's much faster for me just to pick up the syntax of a language over the weekend and then fill in the blanks on toy projects or while doing maintenance.
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
>4 ... have shown no ability or drive. So you wouldn't hire a new maths PhD for your trading software group if they didn't have C++ experience?
I've had mixed experience hiring PhDs for jobs that require mixing research and coding. Often they don't accept how little they know about software development and are less willing to do more grunt-work type tasks which are essential to actually turning research into a real product. Of course, there are PhDs who are great coders as well. They are gems.
I guess I'm the odd man out. I will happily be paid to code someone else's software for six months, but I lose interest in my own stuff after six hours.
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#35> I wonder why this move away from on-the-job training has taken place. > One reason given as to why firms have reduced their training is because they fear that after investing in the worker, he might just bolt to a competitor which may reward him with better pay because it didn't have to budget for training. The underlying reason for this situation is a good question. While I don't know the answer, it should be note…
Of course the solution to the predicament is simple: contracts. Alas, as with so many things, a well-armed third-party is getting in the way.
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#36I think there's still significant on-the-job training for technical areas other than programming. Aerospace engineering firms want an engineering major to have learned the basics of what engineering is, and have a solid grasp of the relevant mathematics and physics fundamentals, but they don't expect anyone to come in ready to work on a particular airframe or engine or whatever. They expect to train people in their p…
This is true in my case as a recent engineering graduate. The company that hired me also hired another recent grad and we haven't really been applying anything learned in school so much as general skills.
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#37As far as I'm aware from the economics blogosphere, arguments about "structural unemployment" are popular these days mostly in right wing think tanks. And they only seem popular there because hypothesizing that there are tons of jobs available for the unemployed permits one to reject Keynesian/Monetarist prescriptions for further fiscal/monetary stimulus. I haven't run into any serious economist who believes in the i…
"As far as I'm aware from the economics blogosphere, arguments about "structural unemployment" are popular these days mostly in right wing think tanks." Actually, I heard Bill Clinton talking about the same thing on the Daily Show this past week.
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Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#38Well, you assume that training actually produces results. It might well be that after spending considerable time and money on the new employee he's still not a very good match for the original tasks. Then you are stuck with a loss and an employee you can't fire (since, for example, the 'testing' period is something like 2-4 weeks -- this might depend on the country/state, etc.). Or, training does work but the investm…
Why do you fear an employee would leave you after you invested in training him? Unless you are particularly abrasive, most employees would look favorably at an employer who helps them advance in their job than one who doesn't invest anything at all.
From what I've seen students here like "big brands". So most would pick working at BigCorp "in the first years" (or so they say). They seem to value the stability BigCorp provides and they also assume they'll learn a whole lot at the job. Being a small company means I don't "look" as stable nor as impressive in the CV.
This means that generally students see the 1st job as something transitional. It also means that a big chunk of the CVs I get are from people that didn't/couldn't make it into BigCorp, ie. people I also don't need.
Changing jobs is also a traditional way of getting a raise and I wouldn't want to get into the counter-offer game too early.
But this time I think the problem is the CVs I've been receiving aren't that great, so I am reluctant to invest in training because I'm reluctant to pick any candidate.
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#39Well, for programming, employees without experience generally slow down the existing employees and rarely turn into good workers. Let's examine the typical job applicants to see why: 1) Has experience, resume and portfolio. 2) Has no professional experience, but has worked on open source projects and has a nice portfolio. 3) Has no professional experience and hasn't worked on open source. Has a personal portfolio tha…
I don't see how being self-driven, independent and generally more self-reliant makes you more suitable for employment. Why would such a person want to be an employee?
Being driven and capable of independence doesn't mean you don't want to work for someone else.
I have been programming pet projects for myself since 4th grade, but I'd much rather work for an employer than run my own business. I'm happy to have them do the things I don't care for, like collecting money and training. I get to do the coding and things that I like. Sure, I probably don't make as much money, but again... I do what I like and (for the most part) not what I don't.
Re: Ask HN: Why firms don't train workers anymore
#40this doesn't seem like an Ask HN. you basically made a blog post conveying your position on something. except you did it here under the guise of Ask-ing HN something. ;)
Is it a no-no thing on HN? (kinda newb here)