Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#501

Post by c1b » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

khazhoux wrote: post #346

This thread is seriously in need of some tough love. @faang0722, you're being a slacker, and not doing right by either your company or yourself. You're at one of the top companies in the world, and are safe from the jobs disaster that's gripping the entire country. Millions of people are desperate to receive $600-1600 from the government this month because they are unable to work. Millions are putting on shitty facem…

lol. this is insane. he's doing his job and asking a question.

Lets say he decides to start being more diligent and taking the initiative to do as much work as is possible. His company is the only entity that benefits from this arrangement, and the benefit is marginal at best. Ultimately, this literally provides the resources for the company to pay the salaries of more useless workers and perpetuates the issue this post is trying to address.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#502

Post by ben0x539 » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 5:59 PM UTC

SubuSS wrote: post #393

jasonpeacock wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. There's no bonuses at Amazon (at PE/SDE levels at least), and there are compensation bands for each level. A top-ranked SDE3 that delivered DynamoDB should have similar compensation as a top-ranked SDE3 working on internal tools.

I prefer not to discuss compensation - so will answer this indirectly. Few SDE3s definitely make principal salaries, Principals make millions and so on. I remember there was an ex amazon guy putting up the top end numbers on twitter which seemed more along these lines. It sadly comes down to your managers and VP decisions. FWIW it is kind of a future investment IMO. You come out with a ton of knowledge and contacts t…

> I prefer not to discuss compensation

Why not?

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#503

Post by minimuffins » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:01 PM UTC

It sounds to me like you found yourself a nice sinecure, a rare find in contemporary life! Take heart!

There's no reason you need to identify yourself or your work output with the company that employs you. A lot of people try, but it's not the only way, or the best way.

Meaningful work is a basic human need, but the market doesn't always provide it. If you can meet your basic material needs and then some by working one day a week, you are way ahead of most people.

Spend the rest of the time working on something that pleases you to work on that wouldn't please FAANGCorp. Work on something they would never let you do. You're free!

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#504

Post by mciancia » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:01 PM UTC

Yajirobe wrote: post #488

smattiso wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't listen to this guy. You don't have to change your own identity and your own personal compass to fit your company. You also don't have to succumb to the "starving Ethiopians" fallacy and take whatever crap job is given. This life has a billion paths you can take. Understand the tradeoffs and make a calculated decision but follow your own path. Granted you may end up homeless. But from experience there are way mo…

Oh please, being a software dev in the US is being nothing but privileged. 'Starving Ethiopians' is not a fallacy - more than half of America makes less than $30,000. So yes, you are privileged and should be grateful.

Right, because doing something that ~everyone can do after some learning is such privilege

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#505

Post by orky56 » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:03 PM UTC

qntty wrote: post #372

khazhoux wrote: post #346

This thread is seriously in need of some tough love. @faang0722, you're being a slacker, and not doing right by either your company or yourself. You're at one of the top companies in the world, and are safe from the jobs disaster that's gripping the entire country. Millions of people are desperate to receive $600-1600 from the government this month because they are unable to work. Millions are putting on shitty facem…

AKA, please work harder for your corporate masters because poor people are suffering. What's that? You want your corporate masters to pay a fair share of tax so poor will suffer less? No, just work harder and that extra work won't benefit people who need it.

This is the logical yet unfortunate conclusion to the 4 hour work week.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#506

Post by Pfhreak » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:03 PM UTC

mciancia wrote: post #504

Yajirobe wrote: post #488

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh please, being a software dev in the US is being nothing but privileged. 'Starving Ethiopians' is not a fallacy - more than half of America makes less than $30,000. So yes, you are privileged and should be grateful.

Right, because doing something that ~everyone can do after some learning is such privilege

It absolutely is. There certainly isn't equal access to 'some learning'. Sure, resources may be online, but learning still takes time, energy, and a background of prior learning.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#507

Post by minimuffins » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:04 PM UTC

khazhoux wrote: post #346

This thread is seriously in need of some tough love. @faang0722, you're being a slacker, and not doing right by either your company or yourself. You're at one of the top companies in the world, and are safe from the jobs disaster that's gripping the entire country. Millions of people are desperate to receive $600-1600 from the government this month because they are unable to work. Millions are putting on shitty facem…

This is nuts. This guy doesn't owe the maximally extractive amount of his labor to the FAANGCorp. If they're happy with his work output, fine. He fulfilled his end of the bargain.

Totally deranged protestant work ethic run amok to think otherwise.

It's also extremely not this guy's fault other people have to work exploitative shit jobs during a pandemic, and his working harder (for FAANG!) isn't the thing that will fix it.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#508

Post by nuclear_eclipse » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:05 PM UTC

bumby wrote: post #487

jreese wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can simultaneously be true that 1) FAANG employees (including myself) are compensated and rewarded well above the national average, and potentially better than any other stable option available, and 2) FAANG employees are not adequately compensated for the value and revenue they generate for the company. Amazon does not get the richest CEO in the world by truly compensating employees what they are worth to the com…

Yes, but where it goes off the rails is when people expects the corporation to act against their own incentives. When people complain about compensation they get confused about how compensation is set. Pay is not about the value you bring as much as it is about your leverage in negotiations. There’s many ways to get leverage like being the only person who can solve the problem, or systemic levers like unions. If peop…

Yes, unions and coordinated negotiation are the correct answer, but that's very difficult to pull off in companies this large with employees compensated so far above the cost of living.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#509

Post by mdoms » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:06 PM UTC

b34r wrote: post #490

b34r wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not how software development works

Not sure why I was downvoted, it’s absolutely true. SDE is not a meritocracy.

If you're concerned about your downvotes perhaps you can give us your theory of how it works.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#510

Post by allenu » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 6:06 PM UTC

paloaltokid wrote: post #473

bumby wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree it can be demoralizing but what you've presented takes the perspective that you are just a victim to an organization rather than part of that organization. > That's just the way it is, John. Maybe you didn't communicate the value of moving faster that speaks to your boss's incentives. > Sorry John, QA will never sign off. Maybe you didn't show QA how the improved workflow actually improves the quality of the…

Having done transformation work for the last 4 years I can tell you...the individual employee will almost certainly literally die of exhaustion before they see meaningful change.

Yup. I haven't done that type of work, but I feel like to make change at a large company you need to be okay with imperfection all around you first and then find one or two things that could actually make a huge impact. Trying to fix little things here and there is just an exercise in futility.