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The hard part is these workers are doing the job to survive life. Without the job, the unsure future is terrifying. I’m all for taking action. I just don’t kno

The hard part is these workers are doing the job to survive life. Without the job, the unsure future is terrifying. I’m all for taking action. I just don’t know what action best suits my needs, other than finding a new job or starting my own business and hoping I don’t become one of the greedy ones too.

echelon 1y ago
> The hard part is these workers are doing the job to survive life. Tech companies used to hire all the brilliant engineers because they were worried about startups eating their lunch. Without antitrust enforcement, they've grown large enough that they can essentially bleed money in any of their non-core markets for decades without it impacting them. So this clearly isn't the case anymore. We need to: (1) get the DOJ/FTC/EU/ASEAN/etc. to slap the FAANG / Mag 7 hard. Bust them up into many companies. It would probably even result in greater market value being created as these companies are inefficiently sitting on gold mountains that they do not monetize and also making insane malinvestments that simply waste millennia of human engineering in stupid ways that have absolutely no potential of succeeding. But more than anything, this oxygenates the field for competition and provides greater upside to the financial / labor / innovation capital that are actually doing the work. (2) start lots of startups that erode the key money makers of these companies. They're quite vulnerable right now. And they've laid off a lot of highly skilled labor. Google should be four or five companies, at minimum. And it's time that the governments of the world demand it.
recursivedoubts 1y ago
tying healthcare to employment and making two-earner households the norm has been a disaster for labor power now your employer holds you hostage via health care & if one spouse loses a job the other is not able to quickly replace part of that income
- bobthepanda 1y ago
  i mean, the income replacement thing was a lot worse when there was only one breadwinner. at least with a two income household you have something.
  - recursivedoubts 1y ago
    No, now two (rather than one) incomes is required for a middle class lifestyle for most couples so there is no labor safety blanket available to temporarily allow the other couple to look for work.
gitremote 1y ago
> I’m all for taking action. I just don’t know what action best suits my needs, other than finding a new job or starting my own business and hoping I don’t become one of the greedy ones too. Tech workers shouldn't punch down against unions. We should be pro-union in general.
- ryandrake 1y ago
  For some reason, too many tech workers think they are some kind of top 1% of tech workers, captains of their industry, and master negotiators: Each of them are a unicorn worker that unions couldn't possibly help.
  - bpt3 1y ago
    US style unions generally require the above average workers to give up some form of compensation to benefit the below average workers. While you could argue "too many tech workers think they are some kind of top 50% of tech workers" and be correct, that is very different than claiming unions help everyone but the top 1%.
    - clayhacks 1y ago
      What sources do you have for that? Unionized employees make more than their non-unionized counterparts [0]. Even if the top earners to bottom earners gap shrank in relative terms, in absolute terms both would likely be higher. [0]: https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/weekly-earnings-of-nonunion-workers-were-85-percent-of-union-members-earnings-in-2024.htm https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/weekly-earnings-of-nonunio...
      - bpt3 1y ago
        The gap is much smaller for private sector workers, and it's somewhat self-selecting by the fields where a union exists at all. If I'm one of many types of service worker, sure I very well might join a union because I'm pretty replaceable and my income has little to do with my individual performance. I'll do better by forcing my employer to collectively bargain on terms that are relatively favorable to me by law. That doesn't mean that all tech workers should support unions entering their field.
dietr1ch 1y ago
It's even worse when under a work visa. You can't even defend yourself when figuring out the legal course takes longer than you can stay in the country.

echelon 1y ago

> The hard part is these workers are doing the job to survive life. Tech companies used to hire all the brilliant engineers because they were worried about startups eating their lunch. Without antitrust enforcement, they've grown large enough that they can essentially bleed money in any of their non-core markets for decades without it impacting them. So this clearly isn't the case anymore. We need to: (1) get the DOJ/FTC/EU/ASEAN/etc. to slap the FAANG / Mag 7 hard. Bust them up into many companies. It would probably even result in greater market value being created as these companies are inefficiently sitting on gold mountains that they do not monetize and also making insane malinvestments that simply waste millennia of human engineering in stupid ways that have absolutely no potential of succeeding. But more than anything, this oxygenates the field for competition and provides greater upside to the financial / labor / innovation capital that are actually doing the work. (2) start lots of startups that erode the key money makers of these companies. They're quite vulnerable right now. And they've laid off a lot of highly skilled labor. Google should be four or five companies, at minimum. And it's time that the governments of the world demand it.

recursivedoubts 1y ago

tying healthcare to employment and making two-earner households the norm has been a disaster for labor power now your employer holds you hostage via health care & if one spouse loses a job the other is not able to quickly replace part of that income

bobthepanda 1y ago
i mean, the income replacement thing was a lot worse when there was only one breadwinner. at least with a two income household you have something.
- recursivedoubts 1y ago
  No, now two (rather than one) incomes is required for a middle class lifestyle for most couples so there is no labor safety blanket available to temporarily allow the other couple to look for work.

gitremote 1y ago

> I’m all for taking action. I just don’t know what action best suits my needs, other than finding a new job or starting my own business and hoping I don’t become one of the greedy ones too. Tech workers shouldn't punch down against unions. We should be pro-union in general.

ryandrake 1y ago
For some reason, too many tech workers think they are some kind of top 1% of tech workers, captains of their industry, and master negotiators: Each of them are a unicorn worker that unions couldn't possibly help.
- bpt3 1y ago
  US style unions generally require the above average workers to give up some form of compensation to benefit the below average workers. While you could argue "too many tech workers think they are some kind of top 50% of tech workers" and be correct, that is very different than claiming unions help everyone but the top 1%.
  - clayhacks 1y ago
    What sources do you have for that? Unionized employees make more than their non-unionized counterparts [0]. Even if the top earners to bottom earners gap shrank in relative terms, in absolute terms both would likely be higher. [0]: https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/weekly-earnings-of-nonunion-workers-were-85-percent-of-union-members-earnings-in-2024.htm https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/weekly-earnings-of-nonunio...
    - bpt3 1y ago
      The gap is much smaller for private sector workers, and it's somewhat self-selecting by the fields where a union exists at all. If I'm one of many types of service worker, sure I very well might join a union because I'm pretty replaceable and my income has little to do with my individual performance. I'll do better by forcing my employer to collectively bargain on terms that are relatively favorable to me by law. That doesn't mean that all tech workers should support unions entering their field.

dietr1ch 1y ago

It's even worse when under a work visa. You can't even defend yourself when figuring out the legal course takes longer than you can stay in the country.