@dang need the link fixed to this: https://backtohumanity.substack.com/p/getting-laid-off
fml thanks for this though
The hero's journey of getting laid off
91–100 of 107 posts
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're going to be shocked at prices these days. Paying some poor soul from some poverty stricken developing country, and expect them to be grateful for just a job, is an archaic notion. In Latin America, the price is near US levels thanks to companies like Amazon heavily investing there these past 5 years or so. Salary at intermediate and above prices are nearly on par with US skill levels, but you do save on employ…
Uh huh... This is just wrong. So the median Brazilian dev salary is 58000 BRL or about $22000 USD [1] The median US dev salary is $73900 using the same search criteria on the same site. In the UK it is $37000. I'm in the UK and this passes the sniff test as a median base salary. Obviously it's more if you're in certain industries or work for certain companies (faangs). US software developers are massively overpayed c…
I’m based in the UK but always worked for US companies.
Speaking to a British company recently and they were trying to hire for a senior web dev role at £40k (I found that surprising to say the least given that even entry level dev roles in the US pay more than that.
Lesson of the story: embrace remote work.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Slowly reduce your output relative to others. Stop picking up extra work just because you can do it. Start working less hard (spend a few hours a day on hacker news, for example). Sadly, the above often results in more promotions and being considered more important, for some reason. I can't explain it.
Maybe ' They're so busy, they can't do it any faster / can't take on any more work. ' ?
Also, much work is either useless or actively bad - making any change can break something. Only doing the highest priority changes is the right way to do some jobs.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#94I'm sorry, but I can't disagree more strongly. Getting laid off is a traumatic event. It is not a hero's journey except in so far as a hero's journey is exciting because it talks about a path through dangerous times where a person can fail. I, and likely many of us, have a family. We are blessed to work in technology where we earn more than we make and can put up savings for rainy days. The average person with a fami…
It is much less of a nightmare if you're prepared for this kind of predicable eventuality. If you're living paycheck to paycheck it's a nightmare, if you've got months saved up set aside for exactly this kind of thing it's a vacation.
Having an emergency fund is basic financial planning that is too often neglected.
Even with a cushion to fall back on though, don’t discount how it’s going to feel seeing the balance fall month after month.
I expected a break when a company I worked for closed down. In fact, it was autumn and my original plan was to enjoy some time off and pick things up in the new year. Part of me regrets not doing that but I know at the time stress quickly set in.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
One can address the stress of layoffs by switching over to becoming a consultant, slowly ramping up premiums, treating each job as something that can end the next day, and scheduling the life with that in mind (i.e. not putting all your eggs into a single basket, talking to other "job-providers" all the time etc.).
I would love to become a consultant. Any suggestions on how to do it? I feel like consulting a skill set different from being a developer. I think some folks fall into it, but I certainly haven't been able to.
> I feel like consulting a skill set different from being a developer.
Not really, "consultant" is just another word for contractor. Almost 20 years ago the company I worked for did a round of layoffs that did not affect me. But it got me thinking and I started looking around and decided to try contracting. It was just like being employed except the term was set (6 months) and the money was much better than being employed. That 6 month contract turned into 18 months and I did contracting for many years after. I don't regret it. It was the best money I ever made. But when you're doing hourly contracting it's hard to stop thinking about billable hours outside of work (especially if there's lots of work and no overtime cap.) "If I take a vacation I'm not billing for $X and I have to pay for the vacation, etc." Everything has its trade-offs. I'm employed now, but some days I think about getting back to contracting.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
The majority of folks are forced to live paycheck to paycheck, not of their own volition. I'd be fine for quite some time, heck I could probably semi retire so to speak.
Forced? No. The majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck choose to live paycheck to paycheck and act like every expense is an obligation. I, to be fair, have been one of them for significant amounts of time, but I chose it and the consequences which were of my own making.
yeah. living indoors and eating are for spoiled brats.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
where is this? I've lived a few places and never heard of something so generous. It's normally closer to 1-2 weeks per year. Also in the UK, ireland and france they put a very low cap on the weekly pay.
One week per year is standard in Canada, too
That's what the law says as a minimum but in practice it's more like a month. That's because whenever it goes to court you'll get awarded a month on average. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it's like in BC.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
And you're not showing any data at all. Please show some that shows devs in the USA aren't over compensated relative to the rest of the world. Until you do I will assume you are just using anecdata because you want to pretend that what? US devs don't get paid more than devs in the rest of the world? Why?
> And you're not showing any data at all. And your payscale site is so far off, it can't be called data. > US devs don't get paid more than devs in the rest of the world? How in the world did you come to that conclusion? My only point is that your claim of cheap foreign labor comes from Western privilege.
No, it really doesn't. Your denial that Westerners, and especially Americans, get paid more than people in the developing world is western privilege.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uh huh... This is just wrong. So the median Brazilian dev salary is 58000 BRL or about $22000 USD [1] The median US dev salary is $73900 using the same search criteria on the same site. In the UK it is $37000. I'm in the UK and this passes the sniff test as a median base salary. Obviously it's more if you're in certain industries or work for certain companies (faangs). US software developers are massively overpayed c…
I’m based in the UK but always worked for US companies. Speaking to a British company recently and they were trying to hire for a senior web dev role at £40k ( I found that surprising to say the least given that even entry level dev roles in the US pay more than that. Lesson of the story: embrace remote work.
Yes, this is the point. If you work for an American company you will probably get paid above local market rates. But you will still likely be paid below US rates for the same company, especially if you're in a developing / emerging / whatever the current proper term that won't get me told off by people richer and better educated than me is.
If you're working for a local company the increased willingness of American companies to hire remote workers is going to raise local dev salaries due to increased competition.
I think this is a good thing. If this also comes at the expense of American devs having their salaries squeezed, frankly I don't care. You're rich. You will be slightly less rich, or even just getting richer at a slightly slower rate.
While some American devs might view this as a personal tragedy, if you subscribe to a maximin view of what a desirable global economic pathway looks like (which I do), then the squeeze on American devs and increased willingness to hire remote workers globally is a good thing.
Re: The hero's journey of getting laid off
#100I'm thankful that the school that I attended forced us to take electives outside of Computer Science and Engineering. I took some Psychology classes. The list of stressful events was very surprising to me. The author alludes to it in the post. I recall that typically "happy" events are stressful, too. Here's the list [0]: Death of a spouse (or child*): 100 Divorce: 73 Marital separation: 65 Imprisonment: 63 Death of…
Surely, this must be culture and country dependent. Given the safety net in the country where I live in, being fired is far from being as important as marriage.