> The layoffs in Silicon Valley come after a decades-long trend at tech companies to “live and breathe” your job and make it part of your identity.
I think I made the defection a decade ago when I, getting older, started taking an exercise break in the middle of the day — at first running for 20 to 30 minutes (later that became 20-30 minute walks as my knees got bad).
It seems a little odd that I should feel guilt about popping out for a half-hour each day to exercise. Perhaps the guilt was with regard to my co-workers who were still slaving away back at the bit-mill while I took in the sun and breeze of Cupertino. To be sure, I knew of some employees that popped off to take advantage of the gym that Apple provided. (I don't think I judged them per se — maybe wondered to myself how they coped with their own guilt, ha ha.)
But guilt is certainly what I felt and I think it took my aging and concern for my health that made me decide that there were a few things more important than my job. But this was maybe the first moment when I consciously thought, "Yeah, this is just a job; they don't really care about my health; I'm going to do this for me."
at so many jobs, you are only as valued as the last big thing you did, and that is just impossible to sustain when you get older and have kids etc... your mental and physical health must be your first priority, once you lose those, a) it is guaranteed you would get fired anyway and b) these things don't heal as rapidly once you start getting older. So my advice in all that is prioritize yourself first and take risks (even risks that require you to push yourself to the edge) but only if those risks enable you to someday be ok with the consequences of what you had to do.
Acceptable Risk: I'm working my ass of for a company which has promise and the work i'm doing here is directly valuable and is teaching me many things. Even if this doesn't work out i would have been richer for having experienced it.
UnAcceptable Risk: At my big corp, i've worked 50 tickets this year at almost burnout pace while my coworkers only worked 25 (aren't i the man?)
You must cultivate a sense of self (and self-value) separate from your job or career. Otherwise, whenever you’re laid off, or ultimately retire, you have no “you”. Work is a large part of your life, but it’s a means to an end.
In Silicon Valley, work often determines much of your social life and most of your social status, and you also depend on the company for health insurance.
So losing your job isn't just losing your livelihood - it affects social life, social standing, and even health.
When people ask "what do you do?" they are also asking for your professional affiliation and social status.
It's considered shameful to lose your job or be unemployed, which can certainly affect your mental and emotional health as well as social relationships.
Because working for somebody is not "your" job at a first place. It is somebody's else job and he is allowing you to do it. Create your own job, if you want to own it.
> Having a transactional mindset about work — that it is something you do in exchange for pay — can help put things into perspective, and so can finding meaning outside of work, said Stolzoff.
the alternative is not chasing super high compensation packages and hustle culture copmanies but picking an employer who is oriented towards long term steady growth, low debt, fiscal responsibility, and so on. Plenty of them exist, usually family run businesses, even in the software industry. What we here in Germany call the Mittelstand.
"At Craptech we're always looking for passionate ninjas who dream of sacrificing their health and happiness to build value for our investors and directors!"
I was laid off from a company with unions. As 20 members of said union. Sure, maybe the company cannot lay off 50% of staff in one day, maybe you get a nice pay out for being laid off. But ultimately, when the company wants to remove you, it’s done, in almost all cases nobody will be there to help you.
[+] [-] JKCalhoun|3 years ago|reply
I think I made the defection a decade ago when I, getting older, started taking an exercise break in the middle of the day — at first running for 20 to 30 minutes (later that became 20-30 minute walks as my knees got bad).
It seems a little odd that I should feel guilt about popping out for a half-hour each day to exercise. Perhaps the guilt was with regard to my co-workers who were still slaving away back at the bit-mill while I took in the sun and breeze of Cupertino. To be sure, I knew of some employees that popped off to take advantage of the gym that Apple provided. (I don't think I judged them per se — maybe wondered to myself how they coped with their own guilt, ha ha.)
But guilt is certainly what I felt and I think it took my aging and concern for my health that made me decide that there were a few things more important than my job. But this was maybe the first moment when I consciously thought, "Yeah, this is just a job; they don't really care about my health; I'm going to do this for me."
[+] [-] strikelaserclaw|3 years ago|reply
Acceptable Risk: I'm working my ass of for a company which has promise and the work i'm doing here is directly valuable and is teaching me many things. Even if this doesn't work out i would have been richer for having experienced it.
UnAcceptable Risk: At my big corp, i've worked 50 tickets this year at almost burnout pace while my coworkers only worked 25 (aren't i the man?)
[+] [-] jleyank|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] musicale|3 years ago|reply
So losing your job isn't just losing your livelihood - it affects social life, social standing, and even health.
When people ask "what do you do?" they are also asking for your professional affiliation and social status.
It's considered shameful to lose your job or be unemployed, which can certainly affect your mental and emotional health as well as social relationships.
[+] [-] scaramanga|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TheLoafOfBread|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] harimau777|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scaramanga|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Barrin92|3 years ago|reply
the alternative is not chasing super high compensation packages and hustle culture copmanies but picking an employer who is oriented towards long term steady growth, low debt, fiscal responsibility, and so on. Plenty of them exist, usually family run businesses, even in the software industry. What we here in Germany call the Mittelstand.
[+] [-] willcipriano|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kaashif|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] atemerev|3 years ago|reply
I have seen much more German software engineers move to the US than vice versa, and there’s a reason for that.
[+] [-] mac3n|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] musicale|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scaramanga|3 years ago|reply
Of course it won't love you back if you won't even take your seat at the negotiating table. Duh.
[+] [-] rad_gruchalski|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] prisoner655321|3 years ago|reply