

The illusion of job stability - cwan
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/11/the-illusion-of-job-stability/

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rbranson
It's also a popular myth that innovation only comes from small businesses and
entrepreneurs. A huge amount of true innovation actually comes out of well-
funded universities, businesses, and government projects.

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hcho
Innovation has two main components, r&d and commercial application. While
giant organizations produce decent amounts of r&d, it's generally small
businesses that come up with the commercial applications. Hence, the myth.

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nhaehnle
_Disruptive_ commercial applications come from small businesses for obvious
reasons. This may just be perception bias in the end.

The amount of innovative R&D that is implemented and commercially applied by
large companies is nothing to sneeze at. Of course, the best examples of such
behavior probably comes from outside the IT sector, in more traditional
engineering disciplines (think e.g. car manufacturing (outside the US,
maybe)).

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bad_user
In my personal experience, working as a consultant or for a startup is a lot
more stressful.

But as far as job stability goes -- I like keeping doors open with former
colleagues, associates, customers and also with local software companies in
general. That way, if the shit hits the fan, I can find another comparable job
in a week tops; while being picky about it.

And all modesty aside, it rarely goes a month without being contacted with a
job offer. Not all offers are good; some are downright insulting. But it keeps
my confidence up.

But the advantage of a big company is in the stress levels -- you can take
medical leaves, you can go on vacation without freaking out your bank balance
will be negative on return, you can switch projects if bored. In many
companies work assignment and the process are so fucked-up that you could also
do nothing all day, while pulling a fast-and-furious before the and of the
sprint.

But this kind of life won't make you rich and your salary will always be an
average one in your industry.

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mannicken
Don't put your eggs in one basket. Having one source of income that can be
easily cut off is like driving a car without seat-belts or airbags. It's an
illusion, yes, perpetuated by those who benefit from it.

I've worked with a company like that and it was an incredibly depressive
experience (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2374271>). Don't be naive,
people, it's in business's best interest to keep you as close to a slave as
possible, while cutting off the rest of your options by making you stay in the
office for as long as possible for as little of a pay as possible.

You think your boss is your friend and likes you, and cuddles you but in
reality he is an actor; it's his job to create that illusion, and he gets paid
very well for playing the role properly. I do not see how this is much
different from scam-artists.

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roel_v
It's not about 'stable' or 'unstable', there are degrees of stable-ness. And
founding a company is riskier than working for a bank, a few outlier
notwithstanding. What's the point of this article?

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wccrawford
Some people really feel the need to say that traditional jobs aren't stable,
even though they are more stable than non-traditional jobs. An attempt to make
themselves feel less insecure of their decisions? Seems to me that creating
fake reasons is a great way to drive insecurity, since at some point your
whole platform could be supported by lies to yourself.

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paulcedars
There's a big difference between job stability and personal risk. People who
work in startups will sometimes have jobs that stop existing when the company
goes under. So what? They move onto the next project, or join a bigcorp, or do
consulting. There's a filter between business risk and personal risk.

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rebel19
This is right on. If you contract you make more money, if you amortize that
versus a large company and are good they are at least equal if you factor in
time to get a new gig etc..

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SMrF
I was expecting infographics. :-(

I've always suspected this to be true, but I would love to see some data to
back it up. My parents have seen enough instability in their career paths to
agree with my decision to actively pursue starting my own company. They are
pretty risk averse...

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georgieporgie
It seems like the author started out talking about stability, but then ended
by talking about personal satisfaction, or some deeper meaning.

I'll say something more direct: full-time work at any company is not
meaningfully more stable than contract-based work. The difference is that
employers attempt to instill a sense of loyalty in you which is not
reciprocated. Work for yourself. Create product independently and generate
passive income. Work for others on a contractual basis and formalize the
exchange of lifetime-hours for money.

