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The Burnout Machine

unionize.fyi

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Re: The Burnout Machine

#281

Post by Aeolun »

__loam wrote: post #151
stared wrote: post #100

Software engineering is one of the ways of playing life in "easy mode" (I moved from academia over a decade ago, and I know the difference). This blog post tries to paint it differently - and it feels like it lacks perspective compared to virtually any other occupation. > We’re living in a world where billion dollar tech companies expect us to live and breathe code, demanding 80 hour weeks under the guise of "passion…

Incredible that people like you will watch the industry lay off hundreds of thousands of workers then turn around and make this argument. It's like devs are allergic to any semblance of labor solidarity.

> It's like devs are allergic to any semblance of labor solidarity.

I think that comes from seeing our field filled with people only in it for the money, doing the bare minimum that’ll keep them employed.

Re: The Burnout Machine

#282

Post by pooingcode »

Ran this through few AI checkers and they all flagged this as highly likely written by AI. Surprised to see it passed the sniff test for users on HN enough so to make it to the front page.

Sure AI gen can be hard to detect but for the most common models it’s easy to detect. I would hope HN has a way in the future to filter out clear AI generated blogs. HN has been an oasis to get away from bot spam and AI slop.

Re: The Burnout Machine

#283

Post by xboxnolifes »

Izkata wrote: post #264
aylmao wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, this is a bad take. I've been in this industry long enough to have heard all the arguments presented here before— it's the classic ones: "pay is good", "not all jobs are bad", "others have it worse", etc. We're in a strategic industry with lots of investment, and a lot of us who check Hacker News have good enough resumes to be in demand, but this doesn't change the fact we —software engineers as a whole— are wor…

Being a worker doesn't mean "working class". That phrase pretty specifically is for people who do some sort of physical work. We fall under "professional class", people who mostly do knowledge work, traditionally at a desk in an office. They're both generally considered part of the middle class.

This is just blue collar vs white collar. Both are working class, as they're both primarily earning their livelihood by exchanging labor for wage.

Re: The Burnout Machine

#284

Post by whoisthemachine »

rockemsockem wrote: post #271
whoisthemachine wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Civil, mechanical, electrical, and most other engineering disciplines have an accreditation board. I don't think they are pushing a "flawed" ideology in those disciplines. At least I don't see civil engineers constantly questioning why they would do load modeling for a bridge, like SWE's constantly question the value of unit testing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABET

Yeah and what are the numbers on how many employed engineers hold that accreditation? Just because it exists doesn't mean it's used. I know for a fact that aerospace, electrical, and mechanical engineers working on designing rockets, nuclear reactors, space capsules, and electric charging infrastructure do not need this credential. And so most of them do not have it.

If they have an undergrad degree in any of those disciplines then their college has ABET accreditation.

Re: The Burnout Machine

#286

Post by LaGrange »

film42 wrote: post #11

I think unions need to work on their marketing. I resonate with all of these problems, but the "fixes" sound like a politician saying, "elect me and I'll solve your problems." What's the A+ example out there of a unionized engineering team that has been able to find a great work-life balance, great benefits, and a fun product development life-cycle that is profitable or clearly on its way to profitability? Show me th…

> I think unions need to work on their marketing. I resonate with all of these problems, but the "fixes" sound like a politician saying, "elect me and I'll solve your problems."

That would track if you were asked to elect anyone. You aren't. You're told to get your shit together, talk to your coworkers, and _solve your shit_ together. And when you do that - that's a labor union. Maybe not necessarily in the legal sense, but in a very real, material sense.

Re: The Burnout Machine

#287

Post by amritsahoo »

stared wrote: post #100

Software engineering is one of the ways of playing life in "easy mode" (I moved from academia over a decade ago, and I know the difference). This blog post tries to paint it differently - and it feels like it lacks perspective compared to virtually any other occupation. > We’re living in a world where billion dollar tech companies expect us to live and breathe code, demanding 80 hour weeks under the guise of "passion…

--redacted--

Re: The Burnout Machine

#288

Post by zmibes »

i've enjoyed the fluidity of startup software work. have a job for a bit, it's exciting, the thing blows up or goes bust. get a new job. hire some other devs. have to fire them because out of cash (sorry, no hard feelings i hope). burning out? quit!

maybe i'm just in a fortunate enough position to be able to take risks, but i have no interest at all in unions, strikes, secret conversations that the article suggests. would be a mild red flag for hiring for me (expressing overt interest in unionizing). it has a hint of difficult to work with, politicising the workplace, power games.

i will say this though: talk about salaries with your colleagues (if you want)! employers have the deck stacked in their favour with this taboo and there is no good reason to uphold it afaiks as an employee. the more you all know the better position you are in. don't need a special club with dues and leaders for that

Re: The Burnout Machine

#289

Post by samatman »

FuriouslyAdrift wrote: post #51

I don't want a union... I want state licenses like doctors, nurse, lawyers, engineers, etc.

When would it kick in, do you think?

Would you need a JSON loisence? A bash loisence? Is Javascript ok but only in the browser, and only under 500 lines?

At what point does the bobby say Oi! ?

Re: The Burnout Machine

#290

Post by spacemadness »

amritsahoo wrote: post #287
stared wrote: post #100

Software engineering is one of the ways of playing life in "easy mode" (I moved from academia over a decade ago, and I know the difference). This blog post tries to paint it differently - and it feels like it lacks perspective compared to virtually any other occupation. > We’re living in a world where billion dollar tech companies expect us to live and breathe code, demanding 80 hour weeks under the guise of "passion…

--redacted--

It's not. OP is living in the past or in a total bubble.
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