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Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

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Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#261
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Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you expecting a salary similar to the one you were getting at a FAANG though? Because that seems to be the main issue - FAANG people thinking they're worth way more than they actually are.

You're worth as much as you get paid. This applies to business owners negotiating business contracts and employees negotiating salaries. Don't understand the hate on FAANG salaries as it sets a precedent for higher tech salaries.

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Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FAANG people thinking they're worth way more than they actually are. I find your tone concerning, considering there's something driving wages down (which if you're a wage worker should make you squirm regardless of how much you make). I feel some resentment against fellow workers (because it doesn't matter how much you make, if you MUST work to live, you're a worker), but it doesn't matter. Wages aren't tied to wor…

There's a degree of truth in that, but I think it applies for larger companies, especially very profitable ones. On the smaller side, I've noticed that I can build the same 'thing' for two organizations, A & B. Org A will struggle to get any value from it, and Org B will make a killing from it. From my standpoint, it was approximately the same tech, same effort, often even similar problem space. But some companies ar…

Not a FAANG engineer but the whole idea of “worth” is a two sided affair and very subjective. You can decide your own worth and the other side can decide what they think you are worth. Neither side needs to be correct, but that’s how economies are structured.

It’s totally fine to demand more for yourself because the companies will always try to pay you less. Are all engineers at banks less skilled than all engineers at say Facebook? Definitely not. But does that mean engineers at Facebook are worth less? Again, definitely not. It’s the engineers at banks who need to demand more.

Personally as a non FAANG engineer I have my minimum for what I will work for. And I would rather be unemployed and do something of your own than work for less.

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You really don't need a Peloton bike and other conspicuous consumption signs. This kind of just general bashing on tech people is so conceited. You're acting like a $2,000 stationary bike is really worth fussing over when you're making $400-500k/yr. Very few people at these incomes in tech are living month to month. They're overall saving a fuckload even if they own a 911.

Go to the local gym and work on actual social networking. Peloton is just goofy.

What makes you think he needs to work on his social networking?

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#264
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> 56.7% Do you know what a sigfig is?

I don't get your comment, even after reading about significant figures.

For a number in the X00s the stuff after the period i.e. .xxx% is not significant

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

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SaaS companies that are linking one business function to another where the entirety of the product is some software running on the cloud. This isn't saying that they don't do development, but rather that they're not breaking new ground in tech. They aren't working on any cutting edge problems or developing frameworks to enable development at scale. I worked at a company that did some logistics. There was an app for p…

I'm the lead engineer at one of these and you nailed it. If I catch anyone "innovating" we have a talk about what it is they're working on to make sure it's part of our core business. It very rarely is. I probably suck to work for in that way, but the reality is this is not a job about pushing the envelope, it's a job about executing as cleanly as possible. You work at one of these if you love to implement simple tec…

Isn’t this basically just saying “the way we’ve always done things here is optimal”? That is very rarely the case. Improvements, optimizations (even of a radical nature) are almost always possible. But yes it sounds like a lot of folks here would not like to work with someone so set in their ways.

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

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We actually tracked every laid off individual from Google to understand the story behind the layoffs. Here's the summary: - 747 out of the 2,762 laid-off Googlers have since updated their profiles to indicate a change of employment status in the last 4 months since November 2022. - Only 56.7% of these people joined a tech company. - 1/3 of these ex-Googlers joined startups. See the full blog post here: https://nubela…

> Only 56.7% of these people joined a tech company. There’s a very good chance that their new jobs are similar to their former jobs. Unfortunately, the term “tech” has become diluted to the point of worthlessness. Every company of any size needs programming, statistics, and such. Conversely many companies swept under the “tech” term don’t develop any technology at all. It’s so bad that actual technology development i…

> Unfortunately, the term “tech” has become diluted to the point of worthlessness.

Indeed. Nearly every so-called "tech" company is not actually in the business of selling technology products, so they aren't really tech companies.

Of course they create technology (sometimes very nice ones) internally in support of their actual business, but tech isn't the business the company board cares about.

Netflix is a movie production and distribution company. Google and Facebook are advertising companies. At least Apple is an actual tech company.

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#267
post #235

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Is your reasoning here that it is selfish, because not everyone can do that, and if everyone could/did, then society would collapse due to no food production, garbage collection, emergency services, law enforcement etc, as all those people would also be out painting/kayaking etc? I ask because as I first read your comment I was unable to see the selfishness, since GP outlined that they lacked the financial means to s…

Right, my thinking here is that the dream of running away from the very society that granted you the freedom to run away seems like you're not "paying it forward" enough, to enable others to have the freedom you'd be taking advantage of. Rather, I would imagine the "not-selfish" version of this would be to spend your life doing those things, and finding ways to help others get to where you're lucky to be. I just find…

So... noone should exercise this freedom, because doing it is selfish? Then what are you paying forward for? Freedom noone should ever exercise? It feels like a prison with transparent bars.

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#268

Laid-off tech worker here. (backend engineer, ruby/rails/javascript). 5 years of experience. I'm working on not ever going back into tech. I've changed careers a number of times in my 34 years of life, and am doing it again. I'm only a mediocre software developer, have always had strong people/business skills, informed by my pre-software experience of commercial construction, teaching/training at a climbing gym, cust…

> Working on going independent here in Denver, acting as a 'broker' between businesses and their staff/customers to convert single-occupancy-vehicle-users to scooters, to increase the functional number of parking spaces in a given parking lot by 10% or more. How do you make money doing this? I also don't see how you really achieve this as a business. The best way to do this would imo run for city council with the bac…

How to make money:

Offer this as a service to a business. The service (which I'm charging for, but don't yet have customers) is:

1. Paint some scooter parking lines in a reasonable spot, and add a signage explaining why the org wants to incentivize scooter usage. 2. The scooter parking would make use of existing nooks and crannys in the parking lot, so it wouldn't take away existing car parking. 3. Work with the staff to find the staff that lives relatively close to the business, and is amenable to scooting. Teach and train and hand-hold through their scooter purchase, so when they're working, their scooter is parked outside. 4. Once there's staff using scooters regularly, there will nearly always be a scooter or two parked outside the building, which will start to normalize scooter usage for customers 5. Hand-hold early adapting customers through the same process. 6. Add signage and website and email campaigns to let interested customers learn more about the whole thing.

Done. Every time there is a scooter parked in front of a business, that's a car parking spot freed up. Keep refining the process until during busy hours, there is a number of scooters in front of the business equal to ten percent of the number of parking spots.

I won't be removing any parking. Only creating new parking, and helping more people start scooting.

I ran for city council in golden, Colorado, a few years ago, and saw far too much of how the sausage is made. City councils have no power, by design. They exist to absorb the ire of angry citizens, and to insulate the city staff from the effects of their decisions.

There is no world where city council is helpful. They're a lagging indicator of the social norms of middle and upper class white people.

The legal changes will lag social changes, so it's not helpful to directly target legal changes.

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#269
post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your reasoning here that it is selfish, because not everyone can do that, and if everyone could/did, then society would collapse due to no food production, garbage collection, emergency services, law enforcement etc, as all those people would also be out painting/kayaking etc? I ask because as I first read your comment I was unable to see the selfishness, since GP outlined that they lacked the financial means to s…

Right, my thinking here is that the dream of running away from the very society that granted you the freedom to run away seems like you're not "paying it forward" enough, to enable others to have the freedom you'd be taking advantage of. Rather, I would imagine the "not-selfish" version of this would be to spend your life doing those things, and finding ways to help others get to where you're lucky to be. I just find…

[dead]

Re: Where have all the laid-off tech workers gone?

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Working on going independent here in Denver, acting as a 'broker' between businesses and their staff/customers to convert single-occupancy-vehicle-users to scooters, to increase the functional number of parking spaces in a given parking lot by 10% or more. How do you make money doing this? I also don't see how you really achieve this as a business. The best way to do this would imo run for city council with the bac…

you sell the scooters and get a commission for the people re-doing the parking lots. the customer company is incentivized by green initiatives and they have budgets to spend.

Critically, no re-doing of the parking required. It'll just be adding scooter parking spots in existing nooks and crannys around the building/parking lot.

Company is incentivized by adding available vehicle parking spots.

Sportique scooters, the local scooter dealer to Denver, is down and happy to offer me some commission for scooter sales that I bring in, but that's not the main thing for me. I want corporate buy-in from the companies I'm courting, cuz I'll need their permission to access staff and customers.

(I'll be adding signage, and the companies will make some concession to scooter riders, to make it a bit more appealing. A free drink, $20/mo in free food, etc. It'll be a case-by-case decision, based on what they can offer that's easiest/most useful to the customer, etc)

Scooters are super cheap, and let you move through a city way fast, and can be parked nearly anywhere, regardless of how busy the area is, and it's literally $6 for a tank of gas. And they get 100 mpg.

I think a little progress will lead to a lot of progress.

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