Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#51

Post by abj » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:35 PM UTC

spyspy wrote: post #43

abj wrote: post #39

> We need this to protect our business. > It’s never enforced. If these are true, why would a company with 232.9 billion in revenue be afraid of paying an employee's salary only when the non compete is enforced? If the non compete is almost never enforced this agreement would cost the company under 0.01% of total company wide employee spend. Surely if the knowledge was that important to the business the company would…

Man if I could just work there a month and then quit with 18 months of guaranteed paid severance...

That does sound nice. Ideally though the company wouldn't chose to enforce the non compete because the new employee hadn't picked up any secrets worth sharing in a month.

Actually, this might incentivise a new employee to hunt for secrets so they could quit as soon as possible and enjoy their serverance. That might not be ideal.

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#52

Post by C1sc0cat » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:35 PM UTC

ohaideredevs wrote: post #44

The only thing that scares me is the IP factor if I work on stuff after work. From what I am hearing, if I am not in Cali, I am at risk even if I don't use company time/equipment? Amazon pretty much doubles salaries in areas outside of California, so it's extremely appealing money-wise if you stick around for the vest.

Why its a given for professional tech jobs in the UK.

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#53

Post by C1sc0cat » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:37 PM UTC

OP Seems to be confusing trade secrets and noncompete

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#54

Post by _bxg1 » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:38 PM UTC

Even their warehouse workers sign abusive noncompetes. (Edit: they apparently stopped the practice for hourly workers once it hit the headlines https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-removes-non-compete-c...)

Don't work for Amazon. Don't give them money if you can help it.

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#55

Post by patientplatypus » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:38 PM UTC

AMZN even recruits evilly.

I once got an email from them that was an email blast to 100s of people.

"Congratulations ! You have qualified to go to for a recruiting mixer where you may then apply for a chance to then be interviewed."

I want to work for a company where people care about me, at least enough to email me in person and treat me like a human being.

I think people think that working for a powerful evil company is fine because at least they are powerful. As if, if you go in with your eyes open and try and get as much money as fast as possible and get out you'll manage to leave emotionally and spiritually unscathed.

Who wants to deal with that though? Life is too short to have to live in a kind of horror show.

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#56

Post by QuinnyPig » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

gigatexal wrote: post #50

This is the ultimate humble brag. To work at the leading cloud operation would be an honor.

Author here. Like any job, it's an exchange of value on both sides for mutual benefit. I'm incredibly privileged in that I could afford to turn down the offer; not everyone has that privilege.

I strongly suspect that if I were willing to sign the clause I'd be welcomed aboard--but that's not really viable for me anymore. In many ways (such as writing this post!) I'm a garbage employee; I'm just glad I recognized it in time.

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#57

Post by QuinnyPig » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:41 PM UTC

C1sc0cat wrote: post #53

OP Seems to be confusing trade secrets and noncompete

Author here. To be clear, the stated reasons Amazon gave for enforcing the non-compete in their filed lawsuit are already covered under trade secret protections. I'm not the one who's conflating the two. :-)

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#58

Post by seanmcdirmid » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:45 PM UTC

Naac wrote: post #8

Amazon is not the only company to sue over this, Microsoft successfully sued as well[0]. In fact, several large companies have pushed to keep these non-competes in place in Washington State[1]. I don't think it's fair to focus only on Amazon. The reality is that in Washington State, this benefits many large corporations ( while being harmful to employees ) so it is the company's incentive to try and keep the non-comp…

Did Microsoft actually win the Kaifu case, the one Steve ballmer famously threw the chair about? They settled, but the terms didn’t appear to be in much of Microsoft’s benefit.

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#59

Post by C1sc0cat » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:45 PM UTC

QuinnyPig wrote: post #57

C1sc0cat wrote: post #53

OP Seems to be confusing trade secrets and noncompete

Author here. To be clear, the stated reasons Amazon gave for enforcing the non-compete in their filed lawsuit are already covered under trade secret protections. I'm not the one who's conflating the two. :-)

Ah I see sounds like they where grasping at straws or relaying on compliant judges.

I know on case in the UK where a company (imarsat) tried this American style shit at tribunal - didn't go well.

Re: Why I Turned Down an AWS Job Offer

#60

Post by ohaideredevs » Mon, Aug 05, 2019, 4:45 PM UTC

C1sc0cat wrote: post #52

ohaideredevs wrote: post #44

The only thing that scares me is the IP factor if I work on stuff after work. From what I am hearing, if I am not in Cali, I am at risk even if I don't use company time/equipment? Amazon pretty much doubles salaries in areas outside of California, so it's extremely appealing money-wise if you stick around for the vest.

Why its a given for professional tech jobs in the UK.

That's really depressing. Genuinely. If a candidate made a platform of protecting worker IP (created on their own time), I would vote for that candidate based on that alone.