Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Does Being 'Loyal' Pay As a Developer?
An anonymous reader writes "As a senior developer for a small IT company based in the UK that is about to release their flagship project, I know that if I were to leave the company now, it would cause them some very big problems. I'm currently training the other two 'junior' developers, trying to bring them up to speed with our products. Unfortunately, they are still a long way from grasping the technologies used – not to mention the 'interesting' job the outsourced developers managed to make of the code. Usually, I would never have considered leaving at such a crucial time; I've been at the company for several years and consider many of my colleagues, including higher management, to be friends. However, I have been approached by another company that is much bigger, and they have offered me a pay rise of £7k to do the same job, plus their office is practically outside my front door (as opposed to my current 45 minute commute each way). This would make a massive difference to my life. That said, I can't help but feel that to leave now would be betraying my friends and colleagues. Some friends have told me that I'm just being 'soft' – however I think I'm being loyal. Any advice?"
I notice from the problem you pose that you haven't been fucked yet. That's ok; a lot of people manage to go through most of their careers without ever getting fucked; in our grandparents' era, a lot of people worked for only one or two companies, never got fucked at all, and retired without ever knowing what it's like. Today, though, it's very easy to find someone who will fuck you. In fact, it's all but impossible to avoid; sooner or later you're going to get fucked whether you want to or not. If it's not your own company's rapacious or incompetent management, your company will be bought out and you and your colleagues fucked repeatedly by the acquiring company.
In case I'm not being clear, my point is that no one gives a flying fuck about you. They don't care about your personal happiness, your career advancement, or whether your compensation is commensurate with your contribution. You may think that they're your friends; maybe they are, maybe not. Save it for the football game or the pub after work; while they're in the office they are in it for themselves, not you. At the office, they are the corporation, which is a pathological entity that rewards cruel and selfish behaviour and accumulates managers who behave that way regardless of whether the shareholders, directors, or senior managers themselves hold those values. They will gladly fuck you without a second thought if circumstances encourage doing so, and most of them would be stunned to learn that you took offense at your fucking; to them it's just part of running the business. Trust me: you're not even human to them when you're at the office; you're a cog in their machine.
Don't for one nanosecond consider being "loyal" to a corporation, nor to individuals within that corporation acting in its context. A lot of people here have advised you to "negotiate". Don't listen to them. If someone is offering you more money and an hour and a half of your life back every day, TAKE IT. If you attempt to negotiate, you may be given a counteroffer, but you will be let go as soon as they can find a cheaper alternative to paying you more money (not to mention that there is nothing they can do to eliminate your commute). When that happens, your other offer will be a distant memory and you will be stuck looking for whatever you can find.
You need to stop feeling anything for the people you work with. They see you as a cog, and you should see them the same way. It really helps to stop thinking of them as human at all. Oh, and welcome to the workforce, son! Savour the opportunity you have right now to be on the giving end; it won't always be that way.