101–110 of 249 posts
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The problem is that “deluded” and “personally invested in” form a venom diagram that looks a lot like a big circle, especially on business and tech sites.
> "venom diagram" Fantastic typo! (Or was it intentional?)
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You worked as a sommelier (that's the term, not "wine waiter") at high-cost restaurants without being able to speak rudimentary English? Bollocks.
Sounds like they were working in catering for events, which has traditionally been a job you can show up and get with no skill (unlike sommelier which is highly skilled).
It did reshape it. Turns out you can offload your costs to your 'employees' that hardly will organize and project costs and earnings to the future (like a competent business). I've talked with bunch of car sharing drivers who were bamboozled with car loans, get hit by traffic infractions, costs of maintenance and the list goes on and on. I feel that the gig economy preys on people who have not developed that risk man…
Interesting that this thread and the "chatbots aren't so great after all" thread hit the front page on the same day. Anyone who actually thought people gave a shit about chatbots was either deluded, a chatbot API salesman, or a manager/owner trying to cut costs by downsizing their call/chat support center. Anyone who actually thought the gig economy was helping anyone but business owners was either deluded or a shill…
That's quite a generalization you're making.
Just because business owners are benefiting by pushing wages as low as the market will bear and reaping profits/growth, doesn't mean consumers/drivers aren't benefiting from the arrangement as well.
Service providers are granted an additional at-will income opportunity.
Consumers are granted a high-value low-cost service.
Many will argue that the service providers are being tricked into the arrangement through hidden costs. However, a large sector of drivers actually rent their cars, which pretty much removes all hidden costs and proves to me that these gigs are a viable alternative to employment.
When I first arrived in London my English was not good enough to speak on the phone, I had no idea what the London job market for developers looked like, I had no idea where should I live and where should I settle. So for the first 3-4 months, I did some wine waiting as a gig(agency work, no fixed place or hours. Like with Uber, you provide your own gear - like uniforms, bottle openers etc.) at the finest, the most i…
> really hard to do because of catch 22 To expand on what mrtksn means: in the UK, it is difficult to get a bank account without proof of address. It is also difficult to rent a flat without a UK bank account. There are a few ways around this: - Have a friend put you on their water bill and use this as proof of address. I suspect this is illegal. - Join a flatshare without getting on the lease, pay for your portion o…
It's easy to get cynical about the gig economy. But I try and remember that the original spirit of it has been largely successful. The promise of the app economy was that you could take an idea like "I wish I could drive people around for extra money" and make it real, and now it's only real, but for people like my driving-averse mom it's revolutionary. But distortions to the dream have come from all sides. Customers…
I think one of the main issues is that the current employment classification is too binary. There are independent contractors, who are really independent small businesses: set their own rates, do their own advertising, choose their own customers, and keep all of the profit. And employees, who work for their employer for set hours, and get a stable salary and benefits in return. We need a new third category: dependent…
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bring back unions
Are individuals incapable of making decisions on their own? Why shouldn’t the individual have the choice to drive or not drive as well as making decisions about their economic situation? Nobody is forced to drive. Nobody is forced to work for less than they value their labor. Unionizing Uber means dramatically high prices, which means less demand. There isn’t a magic pot of money just waiting to be distributed. If co…
1. We don't have a fair playing field anymore, with the exception of a few specialized field, like Tech Workers.
2. We are over regulated. Too many professions have rediculious financial barriers to entry. And fees/fines are not progressive. And demand licenses, bonds, insurance for practically every profession.
3. Our legislative system is basically bought by the wealthy.
It's ironic the poor/middle class do not have the insight/maturity to see they are being manipulated, and kept away from the real opportunities.
The system is rigged by the wealthy, and that's why the 1 percent own so dam much.
If your one of them, supply and demand curve is a beautiful thing? You can jump in and out without much risk.
Work one day on a non-union construction job site. Then work one day in a union job site. It's night and day.
In the San Francisco Bay Area a union worker is making $50/hr. plus benefits, and has a free paid apprenticeship.
The no-union hires bodies for minimum wage, or maybe starting $10 hr. You learn kinda on the job. There's no future. You might as well work retail, and save your back.
Since we live in a very unfair capitalistic society, all that supply/demand theory is still valid in books, but not so much in real American life?
I can't think of any job that wasen't improved by a union.
The wealthy disliked unions so much they moved whatever was moveable overseas. Service jobs are hard to move overseas. Which makes them ripe for unionization--now? Then again we have so many despirate people here, the service jobs are still a bitch to unionize?
"But the unemployment rate--dude?" Why is the "able bodied, but aren't working" number so dam high. Oh yea, those Side Hussle jobs are just not advertising enough?
Why is homelessness at a all time high? (Maybe percentage size, it was higher during The Depression?)
Tech is a bit different. It's so new, it's like a gold rush. Just learn the stuff, build a few projects, be young, know a few techies, and you have a pretty good job. Wait until the sectors of tech mature. We will have rock bottom wages, and no real job security. And now--your lucky if you're working after 40?
A poor man gets a $500 vechicle infraction. It might be the last straw.
A rich man get a $500 vechicle infraction. He laughingly tells the wife over dinner.
Something stinks in this country?
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Interesting that this thread and the "chatbots aren't so great after all" thread hit the front page on the same day. Anyone who actually thought people gave a shit about chatbots was either deluded, a chatbot API salesman, or a manager/owner trying to cut costs by downsizing their call/chat support center. Anyone who actually thought the gig economy was helping anyone but business owners was either deluded or a shill…
> Anyone who actually thought the gig economy was helping anyone but business owners was either deluded or a shill. It's more accurate to say business owners and consumers are benefiting at the expense of the employees.
I'd include all the hot air tech like AI, Big Data, and self-driving cars in that (until proven otherwise)...
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> really hard to do because of catch 22 To expand on what mrtksn means: in the UK, it is difficult to get a bank account without proof of address. It is also difficult to rent a flat without a UK bank account. There are a few ways around this: - Have a friend put you on their water bill and use this as proof of address. I suspect this is illegal. - Join a flatshare without getting on the lease, pay for your portion o…
As of 2016, Lloyds bank offered a "Welcome to the UK" current account that you could open without proof of address.
I had to make my agency write the employment letter multiple times because the banks always found something wrong. Finally, it was a week before Christmas and I had to beg the HSBC employee to accept the letter and open my account because I was running out of cash on Christmas.
When I first arrived in London my English was not good enough to speak on the phone, I had no idea what the London job market for developers looked like, I had no idea where should I live and where should I settle. So for the first 3-4 months, I did some wine waiting as a gig(agency work, no fixed place or hours. Like with Uber, you provide your own gear - like uniforms, bottle openers etc.) at the finest, the most i…
The the "finest, the most iconic places in London" hire cheap sweatshop, bring your own tools, amateur labor.
It might be a good chance for a newcomer to the business, but it also kills the business long term (just hire newcomers and pay them shit forever), and cheapens their whole experience to Las Vegas level for me.
Why places that charge $20 for a drink (or way more) are so greedy to not properly pay wait staff and keep qualified teams longterm, is beyond me...