I don't understand how this could be a lawful arrangement. How do you run a company that structurally precludes hiring people with families?
Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
61–70 of 96 posts
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#62The ideal setup for people who literally have absolutely no life besides work. Kudos.
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#63This is seriously f#cked up. I can understand 3-4 people who are equals between themselves pulling this off, but with 24 people there's no way everyone likes the arrangement, so having everyone to be in it 24/7 is wrong.
Yeah, it's pretty unfortunately that they interview people without telling them about this situation, and then people get there and boom, they are involved in a cult!
OK, so I'm being sarcastic there, but seriously, isn't it nice for a free society that there are a lot of different kinds of workplaces, and if people don't want to work in one situation, then they have the option to quit that job and work in a different one?
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#64Nice sweatshop. Is this the latest, legal, technique to discriminate against older workers?
How does this discriminate against older workers?
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. There is a lot of baked in dishonesty relating to careers and jobs and such. It's very tied in to people's identity and realities often unpleasant to deal with. Many of us spend most our lives in a way we don't like. That's a tough pill. Some aspects of it can be dehumanizing emasculating (for men, of course) or demeaning in other ways. In any case I think working life feeds you ills that are hard to swallow…
> A knowledge company in 2014 is different to a factory in 1893 and they are both new on the grander scale. Yet this living situation isn't that much of a stretch from the dormitory-style housing you still see in China for factory workers, or the company towns you saw in the U.S. for mine workers and the like.
>> "Yet this living situation isn't that much of a stretch from the dormitory-style housing you still see in China for factory workers, or the company towns you saw in the U.S. for mine workers and the like."
You can't be serious. This is a Foxconn dormitory [1]. It's nothing like a beautiful mansion in the californian country side with swimming pool and tennis court.
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
> A knowledge company in 2014 is different to a factory in 1893 and they are both new on the grander scale. Yet this living situation isn't that much of a stretch from the dormitory-style housing you still see in China for factory workers, or the company towns you saw in the U.S. for mine workers and the like.
>> "Yet this living situation isn't that much of a stretch from the dormitory-style housing you still see in China for factory workers, or the company towns you saw in the U.S. for mine workers and the like." You can't be serious. This is a Foxconn dormitory [1]. It's nothing like a beautiful mansion in the californian country side with swimming pool and tennis court. [1] http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060623_01.jpg
I think there are interesting fundamental objections a lot of people seem to have.
Labour laws and conventions almost assume people do not have a choice in their place of employment. That's why a barman's right to a smoke free workplace is more recognized than a patron's. With that in mind I think people feel that employment needs to be accessible to everyone and that this is specifically designed for young singles.
There is also an objection to the cultish nature of this, the opposite of work-life balance. If an employer controls your work life and your home life… I think that's what rayiner is objecting to.
Think about it this way. In one case you have a high priced escort who takes on a select few clients and earns like a star stockbroker. On the other you have a lower end prostitute earning less, in worse conditions and probably and with all the associated social problems of prostitution. To many, they are fundamentally the same thing because being a hooker is the important part, not the consequences of being a hooker.
I'm glad to see experimentation like this. I think if some people really like it, that might outweigh the other cases where people dislike it. In the midst of such a demand for programmers, they should be able to leave.
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok - this negative reaction is to prevent others from competing with us in dimensions we can't win on. Thanks for putting it out in the open so we can discuss it directly.
I'd say it's more a matter of "preventing others from dragging down society to competing at a level we as a group don't find socially acceptable." This is a legitimate function of society, and opprobrium and derision is a key tool for enforcing social norms that keep a check on undesirable behavior.
Start-ups have been hot-housing like this for years. I have friends who went through YC who did it. PG even suggested in one of his essays "Ever notice how much easier it is to hack at home than at work? So why not make work more like home?" [1]
[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html
This is just a scaled-up version of what has already existed for years. The reason it's not more common is because it's logistically difficult to organise. I doubt that difficulty will suddenly decrease. The majority of people will always have families or different lifestyle preferences.
So I'm doubtful that society will be "dragged down" to a point where this is the social norm.
Hence, I think that the opprobrium and derision in this thread is stronger than it needs to be.
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#68Surprised at the negative attitude in this thread. It's certainly not an environment I'd like to work in but all the people working there don't have to, they choose to. It's probably also a hell of a lot cheaper than trying to rent in SF which I'm sure a lot of them like. Without knowing working hours/salary it's hard to say exactly how good or bad it is but the most important thing is that with so many companies hav…
And the free E-meter is not to be sniffed at. Those things are pricey.
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#69I don't understand how this could be a lawful arrangement. How do you run a company that structurally precludes hiring people with families?
It doesn't seem possible that all the people live in the house, I think they might be glossing that over a bit. Although their jobs page for open contracts it says "food and accommodation are included" haha.
Re: Meta’s entire 24-person team works and lives together in the same estate
#70So... Not for anyone with a significant other. Or a family. Or an aversion to spending all day and night with your co-workers.
Pretty much...