Live data from Hacker News

Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

bbc.co.uk

31–40 of 144 posts

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#31

A lot of companies are actively factoring this into their HR model. Their model is to hire fresh people and burn them out. Increasingly this is the direction western corporations are moving. Their ideal model is: place performance quotas above long term sustainability, people then burn themselves out, you then fire them for performance reasons, and you have them on an aggressive noncompete and threaten them with it w…

Companies that expect people to work this hard are almost exclusively very well paying entry level jobs for fresh graduates with an up or out structure like I-Banking, management consisting or law. People know what they’re getting into when they start these jobs. The hours and workload are not a secret. Most people do their two years and get out. A lot of it amounts to pointless hazing but no one is deceived into thi…

> Companies that expect people to work this hard are almost exclusively very well paying entry level jobs for fresh graduates with an up or out structure like I-Banking, management consisting or law.

I'm not sure, I see a lot of companies moving to this model and they are not well paying. They copy startup environments but only in appearance (like a ping pong table for decoration that you are not allowed to play), because of that they justify that you must be passionate and work long hours for a low pay.

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#32
post #28

A lot of companies are actively factoring this into their HR model. Their model is to hire fresh people and burn them out. Increasingly this is the direction western corporations are moving. Their ideal model is: place performance quotas above long term sustainability, people then burn themselves out, you then fire them for performance reasons, and you have them on an aggressive noncompete and threaten them with it w…

In some ways we're moving to something worse than slavery. At least with slaves they were seen as "assets" rather than "temporary rentals". They had to take care of them out of necessity, so their evil had that limit on it. Some of us prefer burnout at reasonable pay than being raped, beaten, and denied all freedoms.

The idiocy in viewing these as the two possible options is staggering.

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#33
post #7
post #6

I appreciate giving more visibility to burnout, since I suffered from it in the past, but is this piece an article or PR for this woman and some random app?

> A serious mental-health crisis inspired her new app, designed to help people track their mental health in the same way they might track their diet, weight or workouts, and look for correlations in data between, for example, anxiety levels and sleep, or caffeine consumption and work stress. Yes, it appears to be that.

""We're built as a tracking-performance tool to help people enhance their lives and their mental fitness.""

She's been the addict, now she's the dealer.

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies that expect people to work this hard are almost exclusively very well paying entry level jobs for fresh graduates with an up or out structure like I-Banking, management consisting or law. People know what they’re getting into when they start these jobs. The hours and workload are not a secret. Most people do their two years and get out. A lot of it amounts to pointless hazing but no one is deceived into thi…

> Companies that expect people to work this hard are almost exclusively very well paying entry level jobs for fresh graduates with an up or out structure like I-Banking, management consisting or law. I take it you've never worked in a call center? When I did, anything under a `10` (out of 10) on the random surveys they sent out was considered a failure.

[deleted]

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#35

A lot of companies are actively factoring this into their HR model. Their model is to hire fresh people and burn them out. Increasingly this is the direction western corporations are moving. Their ideal model is: place performance quotas above long term sustainability, people then burn themselves out, you then fire them for performance reasons, and you have them on an aggressive noncompete and threaten them with it w…

Slavery is not voluntary, and any individual job is.

They are absolutely not comparable. You can always quit and go home. It is insane to compare the two.

This is an inaccurate comparison with an agenda.

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Companies that expect people to work this hard are almost exclusively very well paying entry level jobs for fresh graduates with an up or out structure like I-Banking, management consisting or law. I take it you've never worked in a call center? When I did, anything under a `10` (out of 10) on the random surveys they sent out was considered a failure.

> they’re just jobs that are hard, that suck and that as a result have a high turnover and pay relatively well for low standards in hiring. I have worked in a call centre.

[deleted]

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#37
post #35

A lot of companies are actively factoring this into their HR model. Their model is to hire fresh people and burn them out. Increasingly this is the direction western corporations are moving. Their ideal model is: place performance quotas above long term sustainability, people then burn themselves out, you then fire them for performance reasons, and you have them on an aggressive noncompete and threaten them with it w…

Slavery is not voluntary, and any individual job is. They are absolutely not comparable. You can always quit and go home. It is insane to compare the two. This is an inaccurate comparison with an agenda.

> Slavery is not voluntary, and any individual job is.

Why do you assume OP is concerned with only individual jobs? Sure, you can quit working at Target, but you better find something else to fill that gap or you're starving to death in the streets.

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#38

I absolutely love how that app that's advertised in the writing is primarily targeted at the 25-40 range... Perhaps after 40 they think you don't work hard anymore... For the record, I started writing code for a living more than 30 years ago. I guess I should be safe, by the mind of these clever guys.

I have to say that my own experience is that people over 40 work less and at the same time seem to make more money.

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#39
post #32
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some ways we're moving to something worse than slavery. At least with slaves they were seen as "assets" rather than "temporary rentals". They had to take care of them out of necessity, so their evil had that limit on it. Some of us prefer burnout at reasonable pay than being raped, beaten, and denied all freedoms.

The idiocy in viewing these as the two possible options is staggering.

I don't think raegis was suggesting there are only two options, but simply had qualms with the way it was compared to slavery.

Re: Burnout: 'Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired'

#40
post #28

A lot of companies are actively factoring this into their HR model. Their model is to hire fresh people and burn them out. Increasingly this is the direction western corporations are moving. Their ideal model is: place performance quotas above long term sustainability, people then burn themselves out, you then fire them for performance reasons, and you have them on an aggressive noncompete and threaten them with it w…

In some ways we're moving to something worse than slavery. At least with slaves they were seen as "assets" rather than "temporary rentals". They had to take care of them out of necessity, so their evil had that limit on it. Some of us prefer burnout at reasonable pay than being raped, beaten, and denied all freedoms.

Hence the "some ways" bit. But don't let that get in the way of the high horse you were looking for an excuse to ride.
Post reply on HN