
I, Too, Left the Tech Industry (2015) - spking
https://evgeniagotfi.wordpress.com/2015/06/13/i-too-left-the-tech-industry/
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marcus_holmes
As a non-American working in tech, I read this with horror. Tech jobs are not
like this in my experience.

Yes, there are always the odd asshat and bad manager. But generally speaking,
if a manager asks you to work more hours and you reply "you need to pay me
more money for that" (as I did) then the rest of the workplace will applaud
you.

Crunch time and death marches happen occasionally to meet stupid deadlines,
but in most cases we've been given time off / slack after the deadline to
compensate.

The sexism exists, yeah. I've fought that for my whole career, and still see
it cropping up. Much worse in Australia than the UK, but still present in tech
culture.

Also, vacation... most of us in the Anglosphere get 4 weeks paid vacation
(plus about another 2 weeks paid sick leave). I gather that's not normal for
the US.

If an employer asked me to fly long distance in my own time, and then work ~20
hours a day for a week, I'd quit the job too. How on earth is anyone supposed
to produce good work without sleep? Wtf is the company thinking?

~~~
deadbunny
I'm in the UK and agree 100%. Reading this my only thought was: How the fuck
do these places retain employees? There must be better places to work? Are
most places like this in the US?

~~~
thedaemon
Most places are. It's because people are afraid of not having a job and they
have no spines.

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tabtab
We are force-fed the idea that dog-eat-dog competition and working our tails
off is what Jesus wants. Unions are ran by "commie" devils. The culture is
sometimes referred to as Caffeinated Calvinism. Corporate Christianity has
deep pockets to spread Corporate Christianity further.

~~~
tabtab
(I should clarify that not all Christian sects are like this. Just too many.
My apologies for sounding overly broad.)

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expertentipp
> Sea planes to islands, chartered private boats to uninhabited places, hiking
> in remote mountains.

The alternative to being surrounded with exploitive asshats is not secluded
exotic place. In fact from my observation travelling to secluded exotic places
is a common practice of employees of soulless exploitive workplaces. Instead I
prefer talking to and visiting my family, visiting doctor, maintaining the car
and bicycle - you know, the regular human stuff.

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TimJYoung
Is it not possible that this is unique to the Bay area and SV and not
representative at all of the tech industry, in general ?

Whenever there's a "gold rush" mentality around anything, you're going to get
more than your fair share of assholes, sociopaths, and all-around weirdos
showing up to claim their prize...

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rachelbythebay
I wish I had seen this earlier.

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ayyyyylmo
Yeah, well, long hours, people taking credit for your work, the expectation
that you advocate for yourself, and bad managers are things you have to deal
with in every highly paid corporate job, not just tech...

~~~
devwastaken
yeah, but this is their specific experience. I don't subscribe to the idea
that just because it's a sometimes common occurance the response has to be
'everybody has that'. Acknowledge the content first.

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fourpointfive
I'm a guy in tech. Most of what she says applies to men and women.

> At my last work week, I worked 14-20 hour days, five days in a row.

Man or woman, you are foolish at best to do this to yourself. Everything you
do sets expectations. If you work very long hours without being compensated,
then people will expect you to keep doing so. If you say, "yes" to everything,
then people will expect you to keep doing so. Not just work people but family
and friends too.

> “Why is this my job?”

It isn't. It was never supposed to be. Your job is to do what you think is in
your and your company's best interest. There are plenty of men that are
complete doormats. The reason women get away with complaining so much is tied
to the reason why they're thought of as bitches for standing up for
themselves. Men don't get to complain - they get to be stubborn. Even though
it is acceptable for men to be stubborn, it makes others less wanting to work
with them. Instead, I'd suggest becoming a better negotiator. There is a book
called "getting more". It is a great book. Everyone should read it.

> Can you be healthy in a toxic, sick environment?

Yes you can. Do your job as well as you can. Keep it professional. Go home on
time.

> Don’t work for frightened people, especially adults who are children.

Wholeheartedly agree. Here's a tip: never take a lower salary in exchange for
more equity. Your salary should always be market! The equity is what you get
in exchange for the risk of working for a child-run startup. If you do plan to
give up some salary for more equity, then shouldn't they be willing to let you
earn it without a cliff? You're obviously investing in the company by giving
up salary.

> Practice saying “That’s none of your business.”

Yes. Oh wholeheartedly yes. Not only are vacations none of their business,
sick and personal time off are also none of their business.

~~~
stevew20
I can't agree with this more. Way to get beyond the sexism.

