Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

rachelbythebay.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 471 posts

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#251

Post by anticristi »

koonsolo wrote: post #202
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

Why do you want to view the world like this? This kind of mindset puts you in a very weak position. I look at it like this: I work for a company because it's a win-win. They need some work done, and I need money. In fact, as a coder, the company is the one in the weak position. If I leave for another company, I can get paid the exact same amount instantly. They will have to get a new person, pay them the same, but fi…

This echoes the best career advice I ever got: Have a plan B!

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#252

Post by thomasahle »

marcinzm wrote: post #41
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

By that argument our government is also a feudal system because there's a king (the president, prime minister, etc.) in charge. Most people would argue that the ability to choose the "king" and replace the "king" provides a key distinction. Likewise with an employer you can change your employer which provides a key distinction from a feudal system.

Changing your employer is more akin to emigrating in your feudal example. "Choosing a new king" - the way we do it in democracies - corresponds to voting for a new CEO. Some democratic/worker owned companies do that.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#253

Post by comprev »

aljazmerzen wrote: post #227
naavis wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know that some people will respond "not every employee is in this position to make demands". Well, it's all about how valuable your skills are. Make sure you can do things that other people can't, and you put yourself in a position where you always have the option to go work for another company. I think GP was talking about workers in general, not just software developers. Software developers are in a super entit…

What does GP mean?

"Grand parent" perhaps, if you consider their post as the child.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#254

Post by monadic3 »

MattGaiser wrote: post #33
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

Unlike the serf, I can go find another Lord. I can pit the lords against each other for a better deal. I can try and become my own lord. HR has a lot fewer tools than the inquisition. Fear of lawsuits reduces their toolkit even further.

> Unlike the serf, I can go find another Lord.

Not really—none of them are going to give you a slice of the pie. At best you get enough money to turn around and sacrifice again for investors for the chance of, you know, actual pie.

And on top of all that, what are you going to do, build your own smartphone so you don't have to go through Apple or Android?

Ultimately, your ability to interact in the market is highly mediated by rich assholes.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#255

Post by anticristi »

keiferski wrote: post #233
koonsolo wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you want to view the world like this? This kind of mindset puts you in a very weak position. I look at it like this: I work for a company because it's a win-win. They need some work done, and I need money. In fact, as a coder, the company is the one in the weak position. If I leave for another company, I can get paid the exact same amount instantly. They will have to get a new person, pay them the same, but fi…

The overwhelming majority of people have whatever job they can get. They don't get to be selective, because they have bills, and kids, and rent to pay.

The overwhelming majority of people don't live in the US. In Europe, you have access to free healthcare, unemployment and education. It's not a silver bullet, but it significantly reduced your vulnerability to eating shit from your current employer.

Why the US doesn't value safety nets and collective action is beyond me.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#256

Post by digitaltrees »

doc_gunthrop wrote: post #59

Here's another thing to note: At least a few people here have probably heard the words "culture fit" uttered when a decision is being made to bring a new employee onboard. That's basically just a socially acceptable way of validating discrimination in hiring (with ageism being a typical example).

This is easy to say until you have actually tried to create a clear culture. It is even more clear when you have suffered from a bad culture you are trying to reform.

For example, I bought a company, the culture was highly competitive, focused on greed and self enrichment...and what do you know, we caught employees engaged in shady behavior. When we disciplined or fired some, they claimed discrimination, and while I have personal experience with discrimination and fully acknowledge it exists, their allegations had no merit, and their actions required the consequences.

The longer a lead people the more I value and strive to create a good culture.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#257

Post by amanaplanacanal »

optimiz3 wrote: post #240
mlang23 wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody is replaceable, no matter how confident they might feel.

Not if you have majority share control - then everyone can toss right off.

It’s good to be king, in this analogy.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#258

Post by rellekio »

apatters wrote: post #236
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

Come on, this is counterfactual hyperbole. In actual feudalism, if you disagreed with the king he could arbitrarily kill you or jail you. Sure, corporations are lame and if you work for one you're a cog in a machine, I agree it can suck. But it's crazy to suggest that this somehow invalidates democracy. The first job of a functioning government is to establish a monopoly on violence and prevent it from being used aga…

I think you place too much emphasis on violence. As there are things worse than death or physical harm. Just as the face of war changed from a physical one to an economic one.

Democratic nation with a strong Oligarchy. Who over years forged q corpocracy that obfuscate such via citizens united. The basis in which we operate is democratic, but popular public policies are rarely enacted.

As to why you put too much emphasis on violence. Think of labor the united states has thanks to corporal punishment. Why waste labor?

In the end it doesn't matter too much as even the beginnings of a GAI would derail such a system. Think on the idiocy at the capital the other day and the post truth aspect that spurred it on.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#260

Post by rellekio »

systemvoltage wrote: post #211
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

News flash: There is always a boss. 8-5 job: Your manager is your boss. Manager: Your senior manager is your boss. Senior Manager: Your CEO is the boss. CEO: Board of directors are your bosses. Shareholders too. Investors: Are they the real boss!? No. ROI is the boss. All the variables that make them successful are their bosses. Bootstrapped Startup?: Customers are the boss. PR is the boss. Ask founders how tied up a…

I would argue that the boss is the easiest position to automate.
Post reply on HN