Ask HN: Why is Facebook not having a harder time hiring?

[kngspook]

With all repeated issues the company is suffering with their product strategy, software quality, privacy issues, executive retention, etc., why are people still eager to join the company?

[jy1]

When you get paid $200k/yr right out of college, who's complaining?

[HNLurker2]

Integrity

[askafriend]

A lot of the issues are perceived to be overblown - and in more cases than HN would like to admit, they indeed are overblown.

Quite a few double standards are being applied to Facebook by the media-industrial complex and the uninformed. On the other hand, Facebook has stumbled a lot on their own and deserve a significant portion of the criticism they get. It's a nuanced topic and isn't as simple as "FB bad, pls delete".

Facebook also has an extremely talented employee base and they pay industry-high salaries while also doing cutting edge work.

Smart people want to work with other smart people on interesting large-scale problems.

[sgeneris]

Destroying a society, addicting people/kids, violating privacy, generating inequality consequences -- interesting large scale problems indeed -- FB is working on CAUSING them. REALLY smart people wouldn't do this.

But then, who cares if you make big money. For allowing this the US deserves everything it gets.

[Fins]

...and to hell with minor, uninteresting and not cutting-edge issues like impact on society.

[ariwilson]

Nice way to appear to be even handed while minimizing responsibility:

"Facebook has stumbled a lot on their own" - stumbled as if it has no organizational will that pushed in a certain direction e.g. the growth hacks & engagement efforts that have caused a lot of these problems.

[sigi45]

Really? overblown? They just don't care.

People working for Facebook, taking the money Facebook has because of all of it it is doing but the AI Expert doesn't care?

Thats probably the same people who like the challenge for military drone guidance systems because they like the challenge.

Great.

[rm999]

I know a lot of senior data people (read: high demand tech people) applying there right now. A few things:

1. People who work there are generally happy. Interesting problems to work on, a company where tech is respected, etc.

2. A lot of those issues you list are common in big tech, see Google. The people I know who are looking at Facebook may want to work at a bigger, more stable company.

3. As everyone else mentions, $$$. That said, Finance also pays similar rates but I don't see a lot of people fighting for those roles, so that doesn't fully explain it IMO.

[mindgam3]

Because money trumps ethics in our society, and Facebook still looks like a good career move.

But there will be a tipping point soon (next 12 months) when FB stock price begins to legit crash after another scandal finally breaks the camel's back. Hasn't happened yet with the FTC fine, but it will come. When their valuation is no longer up and to the right, the hiring situation will change dramatically.

[aussiegreenie]

Facebook is today's tobacco company. Tobacco companies need to pay 2-5 times to the "normal" rate to get people to work for them.

[askafriend]

Why such an extreme comparison?

Does the Television industry hit too close to home to not use as an analogy instead?

[wincent]

Interesting technical work, great peers, good comp. If you are a user, it's good to work on something that you use. If you're in the front-end space in particular, its exciting to work on things that have significantly changed the ecosystem.

(Ex-Facebooker. When the Cambridge Analytica stuff went down I wasn't too thrilled, but above all I left because of lack of work-life balance.)

[lizardking]

Because people like money

[galori]

Because of money obviously. If someone is out of a job for a month, especially if they don't have "deep" savings, they'll take the first or highest offer they get.

Also, how do you know they aren't having a harder time hiring?

[tudelo]

They pay 250k for someone with 2yoe. And have benefits better than 99 percent of companies (likely more than 99 percent honestly).

Edit:

And, a properly defined career ladder. Competitive stock refreshers and bonuses. Varied projects.

[notacoward]

Interesting problems (not too many places you can do stuff at that kind of scale/impact), very pleasant environment within the company, and yes, money too. And there are a few who come precisely because of those troubles, to make things better instead of standing in a glass house throwing stones.

[ochronus]

Why are people taking jobs in governments? In oil companies? In tobacco companies?

[rinchik]

Because some support FB's mission of giving people the power to build community and bring the world closer together?

Why majority thinks that everything what FB does is necessarily bad? It's not true at all and plainly evil propaganda.

[sgeneris]

Oh, please, you can't be that gullible to believe Zuckerberg's marketing -- a guy who sued 300 people to build his Hawaii mansion.

With people like you no wonder he gets away with all his crap.

[lallysingh]

Also lots of people aren't paying attention to that stuff.

[bifrost]

Because they get first pick of the good interns and they're still better than a couple of the other big places to work for.

[shishy]

Unfortunately, accountability and respect for privacy seem to be a meme these days

[iliaznk]

Show me a big company without those kinds of problems.

[gouh]

Because Facebook hires skilled people, not great people.

[diminoten]

Because they're not suffering with their product strategy, software quality, privacy issues, or executive retention.

Don't believe what you read in the news.

[thereare5lights]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I mean really it shouldn't be surprising, they pay really well.

[whenchamenia]

Pay > Ethics

They will have to live with the consequenses when they are older. I hope it weights heavily on those that compromised their beliefs for a 'cool job'.

[craftinator]

Honestly, for that money, I'd sell out. But I'd also make myself a huge thorn in the side after the first year anytime anything unethical was going on. If I got fired, I would ADD IT TO MY RESUME, that I left a job at FB making 150k because I took an ethical stand against nasty behavior. I'd have a big chunk of green in my pocket, come across as a coding saint to future employers, and they would KNOW that my last salary was 6 figures. It's really kinda awesome!