Probably you should check zoho way
Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
401–410 of 419 posts
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#402I had a summer internship at HP while I was in college. (I graduated in 1992.) When I graduated, the assumption/expectation was that they would offer me a job. They hesitated, and a manager who was unusually nice to me explained that HP hires people who will stick around for many years -- and thus, they weighed every hire carefully. He went further and said that several years before that, when there had been a recess…
Dassault Systèmes is like that : the CEO publicly said during the 2008 crisis that layoffs would be the absolutely last thing happening.
The company froze the salaries and he kept his promise.
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#403Offered in the spirit of "don't believe everything you hear": I went into university and graduated during the post-bust winter. The few adults I knew, plus the Wall Street Journal, were unanimous in their opinion that engineering as a field was done in the United States and that all future hiring of software developers would happen in Asia. I got on a plane to Japan immediately after graduation. It's been a fun and f…
:) :) :) :)
Didn't mean any offence by this! I was merely indicating my appreciation for the humor of the original poster with his great command of the language: "have been reliably informed since..".
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#404Earlier quoted context omitted.
Though quite a few of them have been Asians. ;) For most westerners considering a move to Asia, I'd recommend Singapore over Japan. It's essentially Asia-light, and salaries are higher.
Perhaps, but you're still lopping your SV salary in half, and if you want a central 1 BR that's not government housing, you're paying close to SF housing prices.
Rents are cheap in Singapore. Way cheaper than they are in London. When I worked in Singapore few years back I paid at the time an equivalent of 1 thousand pounds for a brand new condo in a nice gated community with swimming pools and stuff. It was only 3 MRT stops from downtown.
In London to get something of comparable quality I would have to pay at least 3000 pounds if not more.
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#405Earlier quoted context omitted.
That depends on where you are. If I recall correctly, In ~2009-2010 German automotive unions worked together with management and employees and negotiated widespread reduction of work hours in order to prevent layoffs. Of course unions/employee representatives have a different place here(e.g. half of members of the board of directors are elected representatives of employees.)
That's a quite specific german phenomenon that does not replicate much outside, specially around europe. France, Spain, Italy, etc... Tire-burning trouble starts with just mention of the possibility
The Volkswagen Autoeuropa plant in Portugal did this, and as far as I know it went very well.
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#406Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think the outsourcing never got quite as bad as everyone expected?
You get what you pay for, high quality code costs money and off shore talent will generally immigrate to first world countries if they have the talent cause of wage suppression abroad for the same skillset. My 2 cents
I think the other commenter is probably closer to accuracy. Here in NYC, offshoring to Chile/DR and other countries in the same timezone is surprisingly popular, even for early stage startups. The idea that people will just immigrate is a bit of a stretch. Coming from an immigrant family I will tell you that some of the most talented people stayed behind while others got lucky. My $0.02, just like anyone else's, and I know people currently in India launching really great code schools, but the talent argument never held in my mind.
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps, but you're still lopping your SV salary in half, and if you want a central 1 BR that's not government housing, you're paying close to SF housing prices.
Rents are cheap in Singapore. Way cheaper than they are in London. When I worked in Singapore few years back I paid at the time an equivalent of 1 thousand pounds for a brand new condo in a nice gated community with swimming pools and stuff. It was only 3 MRT stops from downtown. In London to get something of comparable quality I would have to pay at least 3000 pounds if not more.
Around 2012, I found London relatively comparable to Singapore in terms of rents. Since then, rents seem to have come down by about a quarter. (I live in an HDB close to the CBD.)
Singapore has those 'gated communities', but it's actually the last place on earth to need them. ;)
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#408Offered in the spirit of "don't believe everything you hear": I went into university and graduated during the post-bust winter. The few adults I knew, plus the Wall Street Journal, were unanimous in their opinion that engineering as a field was done in the United States and that all future hiring of software developers would happen in Asia. I got on a plane to Japan immediately after graduation. It's been a fun and f…
Interesting. How has your experience been in Japan? I hear that the work culture in Japan is bad that you have to grind for long hours at work. And then the culture is so different and the accommodations so small and you can't drive around in a big fat suv. For the culture part, it is okay as long as you like to experience new things, I guess.
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#409This thread is scaring me. Question on exercising and such. I have all exercised options, but not all vested, been here about 2 years, so half vested. Didn't pay taxes at exercise because there was no difference between exercise price and market price. What happens taxwise if my company goes under? Don't I only owe taxes if I sell vested options?
> I have all exercised options, but not all vested, been here about 2 years, so half vested. Didn't pay taxes at exercise because there was no difference between exercise price and market price. Early exercise with a 83b election? You will be fine. The tax problem happens like this: 1. Your option strike price is $0.01/sh 2. The current price as set by the board (or the stock market if public) is $10/sh 3. You exerci…
Thank you! The 83b situation is the one I'm in. Appreciate it, sorry for the late response.
Re: Ask HN: How was life for a regular dev during the dot com burst?
#410Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where I work the non-union staff are not laid off in downturns, only the union staff.
If your company does business in the United States, they're violating the law. https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/whats-law/employers/d... Section 8(a)(3) of the Act makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer, "by discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment[,] to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization." (An employer that violates Sec…
What about companies where different parts of the company have differing work arrangements? For instance, my telco has some union workers in specific roles, as well as non-union retail staff, and a "management professional" category. If union people were getting laid off, it would be due to the role, but of course there would be no non-union workers in that role.