Paul Graham: Hiring is Obsolete

jazznjava writes "Paul Graham has a new essay covering what the influences of declining operating costs will have on startup companies, and the undervaluation of undergraduates."

Comments

Specialization.

[rice_burners_suck]

In my opinion, companies shouldn't have to hire anymore. The hiring and firing process creates a lot of overhead costs that most companies should avoid.

We know from the study of basic economics that specialization creates synergies between global organizations and that by leveraging innovative technologies, content providers streamline compelling enterprise solutions. Therefore, there should be one big huge company that always employs everybody in the labor force, and those employees would be rented on an hourly basis to other companies for their use. This would have the following advantages: First, this big huge company would have its payroll system totally dialed in, so that it would happen with minimal overhead. Secondly, everybody would have benefits. Third, you could never get fired. Fourth, when a company decides not to "use" you anymore, the big huge company will automatically place you in a job by the next day. This would maximize the amount of employment throughout the country, reduce the amount corporations are spending on the hiring and firing process, reduce litigation, and give everyone a good, stable job.

I think that's what Graham means when he says that hiring is obsolete.

Choice quote

[timeOday]

"In fact, if Bill [Gates] had finished college and gone to work for another company as we're suggesting, he might well have gone to work for Apple. And while that would probably have been better for all of us, it wouldn't have been better for him."

If Paul Graham says it, it must be true

[ftzdomino]

This is just as likely as his previous essay stating that bayesian filtering would end all of our spam problems.