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57% of Tech Workers Are Suffering From Job Burnout, Survey Finds (bleepingcomputer.com)

An anonymous reader writes: A survey conducted among the tech workers, including many employees of Silicon Valley's elite tech companies, has revealed that over 57% of respondents are suffering from job burnout. The survey was carried out by the makers of an app that allows employees to review workplaces and have anonymous conversations at work, behind their employers' backs. Over 11K employees answered one question -- if they suffer from job burnout, and 57.16% said "Yes."

The company with the highest employee burnout rate was Credit Karma, with a whopping 70.73%, followed by Twitch (68.75%), Nvidia (65.38%), Expedia (65.00%), and Oath (63.03% -- Oath being the former Yahoo company Verizon bought in July 2017). On the other end of the spectrum, Netflix ranked with the lowest burnout rate of only 38.89%, followed by PayPal (41.82%), Twitter (43.90%), Facebook (48.97%), and Uber (49.52%).

317 comments

  1. I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    But, allow me to play doubles advocate here for a moment. For all intensive purposes I think you are wrong. In an age where false morals are a diamond dozen, true virtues are a blessing in the skies. We often put our false morality on a petal stool like a bunch of pre-Madonnas, but you all seem to be taking something very valuable for granite. So I ask of you to mustard up all the strength you can because it is a doggy dog world out there. Although there is some merit to what you are saying it seems like you have a huge ship on your shoulder. In your argument you seem to throw everything in but the kids Nsync, and even though you are having a feel day with this I am here to bring you back into reality. I have a sick sense when it comes to these types of things. It is almost spooky, because I cannot turn a blonde eye to these glaring flaws in your rhetoric. I have zero taller ants when it comes to people spouting out hate in the name of moral righteousness. You just need to remember what comes around is all around, and when supply and command fails you will be the first to go. Make my words, when you get down to brass stacks it doesn't take rocket appliances to get two birds stoned at once. It's clear who makes the pants in this relationship, and sometimes you just have to swallow your prize and accept the facts. You might have to come to this conclusion through denial and error but I swear on my mother's mating name that when you put the petal to the medal you will pass with flying carpets like itâ(TM)s a peach of cake.

    1. Re:I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazing insights

    2. Re: I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shouldnâ(TM)t that be

      Amazing insides?

    3. Re: I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those companies that have the lower burnout rate need to crack the wip! Their workers are slacking!

    4. Re: I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have never seen someone jabber so much yet say nothing of worth. That paragraph could pretty well be put as a comment fo anything. Itâ(TM)s meaninglessly. Iâ(TM)m ignoring the obvious desire to misuse every metaphor and expression possible, of course.

    5. Re: I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no job satisfaction in constantly changing expectations?

    6. Re: I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was obviously a post meant to troll grammar and spelling Nazis.

    7. Re:I hole-hardedly agree... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *pedal stool

    8. Re: I hole-hardedly agree... by f3rret · · Score: 1

      It's copypasta.
      What'd you expect?

      --
      Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
  2. good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the end is near

  3. I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    My blood pressure has never been higher!

    Not to mention my managers who openly joke about how being stressed "is just something you deal with" and openly laugh about it in front of me anytime someone mentions it.

    Fark this noise

    1. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Try working construction for minimum wage and not knowing where your next job will come from. Then have your blood pressure tested.

    2. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I've done both (since there are almost no tech jobs where I live and I refuse to move). I can certainly say that while writing code and designing hardware (I do both) is stressful and dealing with insane deadlines and stupid managers can certainly be frustrating. Blue collar work is far more damaging to your body. As an engineer you worry about what will happen in your 40's when being hired becomes more difficult. If you're a construction worker you worry about that next injury taking you out and living under a bridge.

    3. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meh, speak for yourself.

      I've done both as well, and I'd rather be outside moving around and getting shit done... even if it is tough physical work. As it stands, whether construction or IT, I don't know where my next job is coming from or if I'll have on in the next 6months.

      And maybe it's just the area I'm in? But IT starts you off at peanuts... around 11hr before they even consider moving you up to a livable wage. I can 12hr as cashier for crying out loud... and start at around 17-18/hr doing construction.

      I know this is all anecdotal... contracting sucks is the basic point I suppose.

    4. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by penix1 · · Score: 1

      Try working Emergency Management. Then you will know real pressure.

      --
      This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
    5. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but MUH TRADES

    6. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Jfetjunky · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is usually the type of thing I tell myself to keep perspective. But the truth is that tech jobs can be stressful too. I imagine people in blue collar jobs believe we are living high on the hog with not a care in the world, but it's not really that way. But I also have two brothers that work jobs requiring much more manual labor. It absolutely takes a toll on your body.

      We've recently had a few people come over to hardware management (I am a hardware developer). Both my manager and I told them, hardware projects change EVERY DAY. Every day its, "so and so (big customer) just had issues with this", or "The market is way behind on these parts and we are short", or "The product you just designed is failing ____ test right now, what are we doing to fix it".

      I've watched it drive many people out. My own mentor told me when I first started "I'll tell you the first thing my Mentor told me, 'Get out now'". A bit much for a new engineer to take in, but now I know why he said it. Right before he left the company, he started telling me he wasn't sure how much longer he could handle the pressure.

      Honestly, I don't care as much about the pay, the fancy benefits, or any of the fluff. What has nearly drove me out is when I feel like every day is just another barrage of unbounded problems. Like you're the guy on the track, your problem is the chains holding you there, and management is driving the train and they aren't slowing it down. You better get those chains undone.

      I've been an auto mechanic, welder, machinist, and now EE. My back-up plan / exit strategy is machining. I enjoy it, it is so much more bounded (in my opinion), and still presents good challenges to keep me engaged. I already have a colleague in another company on his way. We've talked at length about it.

    7. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well quit then and stop whining.

    8. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Then just go get a construction job and quit complaining.

    9. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Try living in a shack not knowing where your next meal comes from.

    10. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're only getting 11/hr for a contract role then you're doing it wrong. My *first ever* contract role was 525/day for an 8 hour day. Some of the other contract people I worked with (IT project managers, domain experts, etc.) were on 1000+/day. I've not had a contract since then that is less than 475/day. 11/hr? Tell them to f**k off and go find a better job.

    11. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to know crap, try working corrections at a private lockup for $8/hour. The only reason why people do that is because they can get enough experience to move to a government owned prison that actually gives decent benefits. Most COs die by the age of 50 due to the stress.

    12. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All of these things women, by in large , donâ(TM)t have to deal with. But they are so oppressed. smh

    13. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by butchersong · · Score: 1

      Most people I know self medicate with alcohol or pot. You take caffeinate during the day and then hit a bar to come down.

    14. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lol so much of "quit whining/complaining".

      Were in the comment section of an article discussing burnout in IT... I'm simply stating facts. Sure, they're my anecdotal facts, but I already said that. Never said I had it harder than anyone else.

      All I had to do was mention stress once, and it all became a dick measuring contest like "you think that's bad... try:"

    15. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, there you go again, bragging about your wonderful shack!

    16. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then just go get a construction job and quit complaining.

      Spoken like an idiot. Apparently you think we can solve all the problems in the world if we just stop complaining and move on to something else.

    17. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to know crap, try working corrections at a private lockup for $8/hour. The only reason why people do that is because they can get enough experience to move to a government owned prison that actually gives decent benefits. Most COs die by the age of 50 due to the stress.

      It must be stressful being paid minimum wage to violate the rights of individuals while asserting your authority and abusing prisoners all the while trying to convince people you are a 'real cop' with your dollar store uniform and that they should worship you like a hero.

    18. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Strongit · · Score: 1

      This. My team at my old job was the sole reason the company started handing out drink tickets at company events. We racked up a 5 digit bill between 18 people.

    19. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try working construction for minimum wage and not knowing where your next job will come from. Then have your blood pressure tested.

      This.

      Or try being an auto mechanic, working for flat rate, in an non-air conditioned garage in the deep south. Or repo'ing cars in the inner city. The office job is too tough? Try losing part of a finger at work or getting shot at. I've done those things. Now I sit in an office and sometimes I can't believe I get paid for this.

    20. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      " and I'd rather be outside moving around and getting shit done... even if it is tough physical work. "

      You just said that. What are you getting so upset about snowflake? Go do it then.

    21. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I cant tell you how correct you are. Ive worked IT both as a deployed Soldier as well as in several Nuclear sites.

      I learned very early on what is and isnt real stress. Yea the network may be down but Joe out there beyond the fence just lost his buddy and his leg.

      But, that said, its still a stressful job. Mainly because I dont want to lose my high paid position and get in a place where I have to accept the lowest pay coming my way to survive. I dont see that there is much coming back from that. Once you lose the pay, its gone forever.

    22. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by The-Ixian · · Score: 4, Funny

      Try living in a paper bag in the middle of the lake and then talk to me about your resort shack!

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    23. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shut up you dirty Trump supporter! Don't tell me what to do!!!!

    24. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by rkordmaa · · Score: 2

      Learn your fair share of Dilbertism, then it's not so bad anymore. Can't keep stressing out all the time, you gotta learn when something is really on fire and when you can just not give a fuck. "Customer just had an idea" type of situations can more often that not be ignored until they go away. "Production is down, entire factory has just stopped working because of your mistake" kind of situations cannot be ignored, even if it's bloody 2am. Just make sure stuff like that doesn't happen very often and you will have less to stress out about.

    25. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      At least you have water. My shack is in the desert.

    26. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When reading about contract work from the best in the industry, I've heard several say that the low end for contract work is $500+/hour, and if you want someone who has a good track record, like themselves, $1,000+/hour. This is for self-employed contractors.

    27. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have to compartmentalize it. You show at work, do your 8 hours, then get the heck out. Disable email notifications or anything that is tying you to work. Don't allow yourself to think about it again until it is time to start work.

      I've been doing IT for 25 years (part-time since 16, full-time since 18), and the sooner I learned to do this, the better off I was.

      Being on call should be avoided, or highly compensated. Don't allow yourself to be on call more than 1 week per month. Make sure you take extra time off using that extra money you get from being on call (at least 1 extra Friday per month).

      Have may hobbies and interests outside of IT. My day begin and ends on a high note because I get to bike to work and I love it, just pushing myself while listening to music. I don't think about work until I hit the office doors (well, sometimes while I am awaiting my alarm at home, but that's more an overall day planning exercise for everything I need to do that day).

    28. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's great until you go to work for a managed service provider. They will constantly put you outside your comfort zone which if you're not exceedingly careful while working against a clock you can easily make a mistake and boom, data loss event.

    29. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      Construction doesn’t pay minimum wage.

    30. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Cederic · · Score: 1

      In the UK those are day rates, not hourly. Not many people will get $1000/day.

      Shit, the top-end consultancies are only charging $4-5k/day for their senior talent and that comes with their full support structure underneath it.

      I work for blue chip companies and they just wouldn't countenance $500/hour. There just aren't individual skillsets we can't get for much cheaper.

    31. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Cederic · · Score: 1

      What has nearly drove me out is when I feel like every day is just another barrage of unbounded problems. Like you're the guy on the track, your problem is the chains holding you there, and management is driving the train and they aren't slowing it down. You better get those chains undone.

      That's common across software development too. There are multiple approaches and techniques for dealing with it, many of which don't require you to quit the job (or profession).

      What doesn't get taught are those approaches and techniques, and (worse than that) people failing to understand them (let alone implementing them badly) mean that people frequently reject the things that might help them.

      If I knew how to solve this I'd make a fortune. Shit, people are making fortunes just pretending they know how to solve this.

    32. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Some of us don't want to switch off. Hell, deep programming bugs are best solved while having a shit, or in the shower, or (if you're into that) both.

      The trick for me was dissociating the work from my personal sense of self. I had to learn that I am not my work, and more importantly, my work is not me. Sometimes work doesn't follow the route I want; these days I've learned look at the new route and identify how to make that work for me.

    33. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by jockeys · · Score: 1

      LUXURY. We used to DREAM of having a shack.

      --

      In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
    34. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what are you complaining about, you have all the sand you can eat!

    35. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by jbengt · · Score: 1

      It does in economically depressed areas of non-union states.

    36. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But the truth is that tech jobs can be stressful too. I imagine people in blue collar jobs believe we are living high on the hog with not a care in the world, but it's not really that way.

      I was pulling long hours one week to try and finish a software update in time. The deadline was fast approaching and the outlook was grim. As usual, the cleaning lady came by to collect the trash that evening and we got to chit-chatting like we usually did (I arrived late and stayed late back then, so my being there when she did her rounds was perfectly normal). Part way through the conversation she paused for a moment, then said something to the effect of, "You know, before I started working here I used to think that you guys all had it easy with your cushy jobs and nice offices. But then I see people here with the look that you have in your eyes right now and I realize I was wrong. It's just as tough. Different, but just as tough, if not tougher."

      I think I mustered a tired "Thanks?" in response.

      I don't make any claim to having it tougher than anyone else (I have a MASSIVE appreciation for manual workers, among many other fields, since I couldn't do that work), but the only people I find suggesting that tech work is easy are those who either aren't in the field and have no awareness of what it entails, or those who are a burden on everyone else around them in the field.

    37. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know, lets release all of the criminals from prison, then they can come and violate YOUR rights.

    38. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Shotgun · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I worked for a large company that made networking equipment. My job was to run a sanity test framework for their operating system. Developers load the images in a queue, the system pulls them, loads them on real hardware, and executes a body of tests.

      The problem was that a bad image would hose the system to where it couldn't reboot, and then it would not be able to correct itself. Every image after that would fail. My job was to come in, clean up the mess, and apologize to each developer. It was actually stressful.

      I repeatedly told the manager how I could fix it, and he always said we didn't have time. I waited for him to travel for a week, I shut down the system, and fixed it so that the system got completely initialized between every run. From that point on, every failure was a real failure cause by that developer's changes.

      My job became a cake walk. I find most of the stress in this industry is self induced by clueless fucks being in charge.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    39. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      shut up, you angry incel. Don't yell at your mom either, it isn't her fault you're a pussy and still living in her basement.

    40. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by losfromla · · Score: 0

      They are often in jail primarily due to being black or brown and smoking weed. Yes, lets let out all the political prisoners that are there simply because white men were afraid that their women would want to hook up with blacks rather than scared-ass white guys. Due to their fear and to keep themselves in business, they made marijuana illegal.
      https://youtu.be/sXPOw2unxy0

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    41. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by losfromla · · Score: 1

      Why would you not be able to find another high paid job? You've got skills, you've got contacts, you have wide-ranging experience.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    42. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by dev-in-seattle · · Score: 1

      Congrats on your new career. How were you able to make that change? Usually there's a lot of education and background experience required to get to the point of employability. We need more people to see the opportunity, there's a severe worker shortage in tech/it/software development related fields.

    43. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      Note that he said "IT" rather than development. Really, what kind of programmer is on call?

      Switching off for a sysadmin means not responding to fires or people calling about fires.

      Programmers occasionally have to deal with those big puzzles that consume their soul.

    44. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by losfromla · · Score: 1

      Music while cycling in traffic is suicidal. Compartmentalize those two separately and listen to your favorite black metal while in a safe location, not while 3 ton metal death machines are zooming by your comparatively frail human body.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    45. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My first job in IT my co-worker was a political refugee 20 years my senior who had fought wars in the Middle East. He had been shot, tortured, had metal in more than one part of his body, and somehow had a perfectly positive attitude now that he was safe in the U.S. He was never stressed. "They aren't going to shoot you or break your arm in IT, so there is nothing to worry about." The entire server farm could crash and it would be much much easier than prison. First world problem, eh?

    46. Re:I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup clueless fucks. They create havoc in the work place. And if they are a boss its very hard to deal with - in a tight job market you may just have to suck it up.

    47. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go ahead and let out any non violent, non corporate insiders. I have guns, a bad attitude and the right to kill meth heads trying to rob me.

      Cheaper and more fun all around.

    48. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heil Hitlary!

    49. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck off, racist. Go back to Facebook. Scum like you aren't welcome here.

    50. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heil Twitler!

    51. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try living in a war zone where you will be raped and killed then complain about manual labor.

    52. Re: I just landed my first career IT gig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because the American economy is in a depression. Cooked official statistics not withstanding.

  4. Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> one question -- if they suffer from job burnout, and 57.16% said "Yes."

    I doubt they know what burnout is then. Are you dragging yourself to work AND finding yourself still getting there two hours late because fuckit AND then working at home past when you really wanted to go to bed multiple nights in a row AND hating your job AND not caring if the current deathmarch you are on actually yields a product? Then, yes, you're burned out and it's time to find a cush corporate job or maybe just a few weeks of beach/mountain/whatever. Did someone at work hurt your feelings this week but you're still OK with the work for the money? Well then not so much.

    1. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by BorgDrone · · Score: 1

      Are you dragging yourself to work AND finding yourself still getting there two hours late because fuckit AND then working at home past when you really wanted to go to bed multiple nights in a row AND hating your job AND not caring if the current deathmarch you are on actually yields a product?

      Wait, this doesn't happen to 100% of people in 100% of jobs ?

    2. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you seriously trying to gatekeep job burnout? This is some quintessential crotchety greybeard material.

    3. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      >> gatekeep

      The word you are looking for is "define". Yes, this survey did a piss-poor job of defining "job burnout" so I'm helping them with the task.

    4. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, do you spend the time between telling other people how they feel sniffing your own farts?

    5. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Telling people that aren't being abused quite as badly as you are that they aren't being abused is itself a kind of abuse.

      That you are in worse straits than some others does not qualify you to define the term for those others. There are also people worse off than you are, is your life therefore perfect?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by hai_Priesty · · Score: 1

      While the definition of burnout might not have been adequately explained to the surveyed and thus make me doubt a little of its accuracy , I suspect the percentage of Tech Workers that burnt out is higher than the 57% quoted, considering the possibility of even higher % of the severely burnout left IT for other fields, or worse, suffered ill health (physical of mental) and is now sitting at home broken. The survey seem to only question those still fit enough and produce good enough quality of work output to not get fired.

    7. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, the issue is maybe a bit polarized.

      One one extreme, some people are burned out very badly and they suffer greatly because of it. On the other extreme, some people are just whiners who are quite well off and are just using "burn out" to describe some minor annoyance.

      It is a sloppily-defined word, with a vague meaning, so there is bound to be disagreement as to its meaning from both camps.

    8. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      >> the percentage of Tech Workers that burnt out is higher than the 57% quoted, considering the possibility of even higher % of the severely burnout left IT for other fields, or worse, suffered ill health (physical of mental) and is now sitting at home broken

      Over their lifetime? Yes, I'd say the "burned out at least once in their lifetime" number is higher than 57%. (I've been there myself twice in a twenty-year career.) My original point is that you need to understand that there's a real difference between "golly, this job is _hard_ and not everyone _likes_ me" and "I really can't handle this shit". If 57% of us were all at the second point ("I'm truly burned out") at any given point in time, then IT/tech would seriously cease to function.

      Career-wise you just need to make sure you're making enough bank during the high-stress periods of your job that you CAN say "fuck it - I'm going home" on any given Tuesday at 2:14pm, if that's when you realize you're truly burned out (and your health/marriage/friendships/parenting/etc. is suffering).

    9. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by TomBauserman · · Score: 2

      Are you seriously trying to gatekeep job burnout? This is some quintessential crotchety greybeard material.

      gatekeep? You going to call someone a virtue signaller next?

    10. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      >> gatekeep The word you are looking for is "define". Yes, this survey did a piss-poor job of defining "job burnout" so I'm helping them with the task.

      A good definition would be "your only motivation for coming in to work and doing your job is so you don't make a mistake and have all 8 of your bosses stopping by to hassle you about TPS reports."

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    11. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      +1 funny!

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    12. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      >> your only motivation for coming in to work and doing your job is so you don't make a mistake and have all 8 of your bosses stopping by

      If you don't go into work, you won't have any bosses stopping by: problem solved! (In all seriousness, make sure this is really in your solution set and you'll be happier wherever you are.)

    13. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      False dichotomy... wish I could mark this as funny

    14. Re:Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by ath1901 · · Score: 1

      Yes, the survey means nothing since they didn't define burnout. The results would have been different if they had used something like:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      It's not really burnout until you start experiencing mental deficiencies (cognitive or emotional).

    15. Re: Not sure you know what "burn out" is then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. You're of those sorry worthless sacks of shit who get their jollies by telling decent people their feelings are invalid.

      I'm sure you don't feel any burnout from your no brainier sinecure with a company owned by your daddy's golf buddy. The rest of us have real jobs.

  5. Define "Burnout" by registrations_suck · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Nowhere in the article did they define what "burnout" means. So what does it mean? Can it be cured with a $250K salary?

    Another useless study. I think I'm burned out on useless studies.

    1. Re:Define "Burnout" by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1, Insightful

      $250k/yr if you have no time to enjoy it is worthless unless you plan to work for a few years, live like a miser, and invest enough of it in rental property so you never have to work again.

    2. Re: Define "Burnout" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what i did, i buy about a house a month around shitty US cities and rent them out.

    3. Re:Define "Burnout" by greenwow · · Score: 1

      I work with several devs making nearly that much, and they most certainly are burned out. When you work constant death marches with Seattle Hundreds (16 hours a day Mon-Thu and 12 hours a day Fri-Sun) that almost always happens. I work almost that much, and I moved over a year ago and still haven't even unpacked yet. High pay helps, but you still have a breaking point. There just aren't enough programmers to meet demand.

    4. Re:Define "Burnout" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > aren't enough programmers to meet demand.

      That is the problem, but I don't think companies are doing enough to work around that problem. I'm an Agile consultant, so I've been in a lot of different companies all over the US, a couple in Ukraine, one in UK, and five in South America. The complaint, and the reason I'm usually hired, is that the programmers don't have enough velocity. The program/product managers don't do a good of enough job focusing on what is important to work within their limitations. The fact is you can't find enough programmers so you must work with limited resources. Trying to constantly get more hours out of programmers just means you'll eventually drive off some of your best people. The odd thing I've noticed is that the real rock stars don't leave because of long hours since they're smart enough to know they'll probably just end-up somewhere else with the same problem.

      I'm currently working on a three month contract with a company that received a major investment that's trying to improve a 30 year-old COBOL system. They've hired a lot of new people which hurt velocity, and the product guys won't budge on their schedule. It's interesting watching a group of 55-65 year-olds commiserate with new college grads about long hours and no vacation time.

    5. Re: Define "Burnout" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's plenty of programmers to meet demand, that's a myth perpetuated by the wealthy who rely on programmers (and other IT professionals) to maintain and grow their existing wealth.

      If us working professionals in the tech industry behaved like those in the medical industry, we wouldn't have such ridiculous work situations relative to salary. That group did it right and the customer foots the bill, low supply or high supply of work force. Instead in the tech industry, if there's a labor shortage (usually resulting from shitty employer practices, not a lack of available talent), the workers foot the bill driving down costs by sacrificing their own time.

      I'm currently seriously considering going back to schoool and working in Physical Therapy or any number of professional medical positions that pay similar with nearly no stress that have sane limits on expectations of the work force.

    6. Re:Define "Burnout" by djinn6 · · Score: 1

      How does the company even end up with 100 hours of work per week for everyone? Is that all essential work, or just busywork? If burnout rate is super high, wouldn't you end up with even more work and fewer people to do it?

    7. Re:Define "Burnout" by greenwow · · Score: 1

      ...end up with even more work and fewer people to do it?

      The part I find fascinating about that is that the junior/recent college grads stick with jobs despite the long hours for the experience and the most experienced people stick with jobs because they know it's the same most everywhere else. I guess it's the devil you know. The guys in the middle with five to fifteen years experience are the ones that keep jumping ship to try to find somewhere better.

      My company has about eighty people with less than three years experience and around twenty with more than twenty-five years of experience, like myself. I think there's only one person in the middle. Everyone else in that middle quit after we announced a two year death march. Well, they didn't call it that of course. They just said we were requiring scrum teams to add 50% to their velocity for the next 52 sprints.

    8. Re:Define "Burnout" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We started Hundreds last November. That wasn't too bad through the winter since it's dark and raining most of the time, but it's really starting to suck now that the weather is finally starting to get nice. To be fair, most people really aren't working hundreds since we keep getting to work later and later and also claim to be working from home from 10pm until midnight. In reality, most people are only checking email and Skype at midnight rather than really working.

    9. Re:Define "Burnout" by registrations_suck · · Score: 1

      I work with several devs making nearly that much, and they most certainly are burned out. When you work constant death marches with Seattle Hundreds (16 hours a day Mon-Thu and 12 hours a day Fri-Sun) that almost always happens. I work almost that much, and I moved over a year ago and still haven't even unpacked yet. High pay helps, but you still have a breaking point. There just aren't enough programmers to meet demand.

      I've never worked anywhere with that kind of schedule....or known anyone who has. Then again, I have never lived in shit holes like Seattle or California.

      I simply wouldn't work like that. If it were that, or go on welfare, I'd say fuck it and go on welfare, or just rob houses for a living - leaving that kind of schedule to the suckers.

      If my employer required me to work more than 50 hours per week on anything other than a rare occasion, I'd find a new employer. ASAP.

    10. Re:Define "Burnout" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my limited experience, the only time domain specialists are behind demand is when inter-project processes are broken. In my directly personal experience, I was anticipating growth issues in areas 2-3 years before they occurred. During that time, I would start projects to fix those issues before they became problems. I got so successful at this, that the CTO noticed, and everyone else for that matter. Now I have the issue of pseudo-micromanagement.

      I don't quite call it "micromanagement" because they're not telling me what to do on a day to day basis, but they are setting my priorities. The priorities are all wrong. They focus on the short term with no regard for the long term, which no longer allows me to be proactive. It now takes me 2-4x longer to get the same amount of work done because I'm constantly working under the gun. The amount of time I spend supporting my code has skyrocketed due to short deadlines, MVP, and having to deal with the fallout of technical debt.

      They say that good technical debt is like a mortgage, you trade some debt to get "done" faster and the opportunities outweigh the debt. In my experience, the way they use technical debt is more like a payday loan, and the MVP the infrastructure and design instead of the feature development.

      I'm far enough in my career that I recently made the decision to stop working extra hours and document my time spent. This has worked well for me. The CTO and other upper management are good people, but like 99% of people, they lack the ability to understand project development. Now when they ask why a project's delivery date has slipped, I show them how I'm spending 50-100% of my sprint fixing customer issues that are a result of technical debt. They've been very receptive and are helping to establish proper time for Design and clearer criteria.

    11. Re:Define "Burnout" by micahraleigh · · Score: 0

      In my experience ... the places that pay out more expect less of you.

      Or if they are finance / corporate / gov

    12. Re:Define "Burnout" by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      Ditto. I could make far more money if I was willing to sacrifice my life for it, but I'm not. When I look for jobs, I make it clear that I value a solid work-life balance.

      My work flatlines after about 30 hours. I get paid to solve hard problems. That's not something you can just do for 50-60 hours every week. I don't do assembly-line work. If that's what you need done, I'm not the person you want to hire.

      Yes, it limits my job opportunities and my pay, but I'm pretty damn happy with my life because of it.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    13. Re:Define "Burnout" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      haha! you're an agile consultant! haha!

    14. Re:Define "Burnout" by losfromla · · Score: 1

      haha! you're the same agile consultant! haha!

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    15. Re: Define "Burnout" by losfromla · · Score: 1

      It's idiots that work extra hours for free that are driving this problem. Make them pay over time at 1.5 times hourly rate, and don't work extra hours, watch the problem magically solve itself. Unionization might be the only solution.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
  6. Surprise, working people to death leads to burnout by sinij · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tech work culture is seriously broken when 80 hour weeks and never going on vacation for any reason is encouraged and celebrated. Burnout under such conditions is inevitable.

  7. Gee, I can't imagine why? by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Long on call hours. Declining inflation adjusted wages. Having to spend hours and hours of your own time training because companies don't train anymore. Constant threats of outsourcing or being replaced by an H1-B applicant (despite the fact that that is explicitly illegal).

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Gee, I can't imagine why? by TrippTDF · · Score: 1

      ...and companies not investing in proper process creation, leading to duplicate or incorrect work because no one knows what is going on.

      ...and companies choosing to hire new management externally instead of promoting from within, creating management that has power and no idea how the company does things.

      ...and companies that think culture means free lunch and happy hour.

    2. Re:Gee, I can't imagine why? by H3lldr0p · · Score: 1

      Imagine some of the opposites here.

      A company that jumps at every opportunity to create a process but never does anything with them.

      A company that only promotes from within and then wonders why they can't move on to new tech as no one knows it or how to introduce it.

      A company that doesn't do any get togethers with anyone since in their mind family comes first.

      There are good ways to do these things and bad ways. The trick is knowing which is which.

  8. Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I demand at least 3 weeks a year of vaca time. I donâ(TM)t always use it all but if I feel burn out coming on I can take a 3 or 4 day weekend and still have time for a proper holiday.

    1. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Always take it. Every year -- don't set a precedent that you're overly hard-working...

    2. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is a good way to not get promoted. In America having lots of vacation time and not using it is a hallmark of business. Despite the liberal rhetoric from SV boys clubs, they are still sweatshops and competitive nerd jocks.

    3. Re: Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't (and don't) work somewhere where taking vacation would dent a chance at promotion.

      I don't work in IT (clinical Pharamcy), but each and every one of the higher-ups in my department take nearly all their available vacation.

    4. Re: Demand vaca time and use it. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      The medical field in the US still values its employees, unlike IT.

    5. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      What's wrong with not being promoted -- just do your job well, take your pay and vacation time. Work to live, don't live to work. A snazzy job title isn't the pinnacle of human achievement.

    6. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by jrumney · · Score: 2

      Meanwhile, in the civilised world, the government would be sending in labour inspectors and shutting your employer down if they heard that they gave you 3 weeks vacation, and only after you demanded it.

    7. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by TrippTDF · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Lots of companies now offer "unlimited" PTO- but that really just means there is less incentive to let you take time off, and you won't get paid out for unused vacation when you leave.

      I've worked for companies that offer 2 - 3 weeks and unlimited. The companies with the unlimited policies ALWAYS track your PTO more closely than the ones that give a set number of days.

    8. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by houghi · · Score: 2

      Working in Belgium and some of the things I have had happened to me.This is in several companies:
      On a Friday at the end of February: Hello, you still have not taken your 5 last days and you need to take them at the end of Febrary. "So that means I have the week of next week?" Yes. OK. Have a nice day I see you after that.
      They literately told be right before I went home, so no way to hand over anything. Yes, my manager was there and wished me a nice unexpected holiday.

      Another one:
      "We see you have worked 2 hours extra, when are you going to take them this week?"

      And a nice one. We saw you worked from 9 till 5 for the last year. However we forgot to mention that this did not include you break, so please work the legal hours from now on and sorry for the misunderstanding. (No, they never asked to do those hours they paid)

      In Belgium a manager of a supermarket was fired, because he came in early to do extra work, so his employees would need to do less. That company had a strict "no overtime" policy. Mind you, before they fire somebody, they will be warned at least 2 times if not more.
      No, it did not matter that he did not claimed the payment for it.

      And having a healthy work-play relation is important in most European companies. In many places people will work 4/5, meaning having one day extra of and earning enough with the 4/5th to make it interesting. This on top of e.g. homeworking.

      Yes, I do have 35 holidays and unlimited sick days, because being sick is not something you know how long it will take. Could be one day, could be 10 months.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    9. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by Notabadguy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Working in Belgium and some of the things I have had happened to me.This is in several companies:
      On a Friday at the end of February: Hello, you still have not taken your 5 last days and you need to take them at the end of Febrary. "So that means I have the week of next week?" Yes. OK. Have a nice day I see you after that.

      These stories are precisely why Belgium, and the rest of Europe are the king of tech development, innovation, and the global leader in envelope-pushing ideas.

    10. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      35 days a year basline seems to be the gold standard in Europe. Typically around 22-25 days you can take whenever you like, plus the rest as paid public holidays.

      Unfortunately I find many companies don't like to negotiate extra time off. My current employer lets me buy one or two weeks a year, basically unpaid leave no-questions-asked and with the cost spread over the year. I'm quite happy with that.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's wrong with not being promoted -- just do your job well, take your pay and vacation time. Work to live, don't live to work. A snazzy job title isn't the pinnacle of human achievement.

      The problem is when they keep giving you the same responsibilities as that next title but "oh you can't have that big of a raise without that title, you're at the cap for this one."

    12. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by Hydrian · · Score: 2

      Because US's annual raises rarely meet the US's annual inflation rates. So you are forced to move up the salary chain or effectively get a pay cut ever year.

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished.
    13. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice sarcasm. This was many years ago, but I think it's still true. I read a study that said that just the Seattle area produced more code than all of Western Europe. The Seattle area has only 4 million people compared to about 200 million (depending on what countries you count) for Western Europe. There's a reason why the Bay Area and Seattle are where the vast majority of startups are so successful.

    14. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by ranton · · Score: 1

      What's wrong with not being promoted -- just do your job well, take your pay and vacation time. Work to live, don't live to work. A snazzy job title isn't the pinnacle of human achievement.

      While I agree with the sentiment that most people shouldn't feel pressured into living to work, the pinnacle of human achievement in any discipline is nearly always achieved through an insane devotion to the task. The people responsible for this level of excellence generally live to work.

      There is nothing wrong with working to live, but there often is nothing wrong with living to work as long as it is a decision made freely.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    15. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      That's when you job-jump laterally between companies... loyalty is a cruel joke in IT.

    16. Re: Demand vaca time and use it. by lars5 · · Score: 1

      ...unless you're a nurse, then you still get treated like crap.

      (the above statement is based on my own anecdotal evidence and is in no way intended to be taken scientifically)

      (also, Wik)

      --
      Don't Panic.
    17. Re: Demand vaca time and use it. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      NPs seem to do fine. There's also research/academic nursing. So not always...

    18. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's only if you work for somebody else. If you're an entrepreneur you're working always in Europe as well, even when the rest of the society is on holiday.

    19. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

      Sarcasm? Why is it a bad thing not to be "top dog?" Being less innovative with better quality of life is just fine with me.

    20. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by losfromla · · Score: 1

      Sign me up. Fuck Seattle, I choose you Belgium!

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    21. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by houghi · · Score: 1

      And if you are not convinced yet, we also have the worlds best beers and chocolates. The waffles are only for the tourists.Oh and the company pays for public transport, I get 8 EUR per day in meal money, I just received 250 EUR in Ecochecks and I have extra hospitalization and pension insurance.

      None of these are a rarity and neither is the 13th month. But be warned, the standard amount of holidays is only 21 days for (I think) 35 or 37 hour weeks, so what most companies do is let you work a bit longer (I work 37.5 hours per week) and let the hours accumulate, so you get more days off.

      Some sectors will give extra holidays and you might get extra for years in a company and/or age. Friend of mine has 50 paid holidays. Try to get into the banking or insurance sector.

      And larger companies will be better if days off is your thing. Join a union or not. Nobody cares. And they are not trade unions, so you can pick almost anyone you like (again: or don't)

      You can also join any moment you desire. Nobody will ask if you joined or not, because nobody cares.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    22. Re:Demand vaca time and use it. by tommeke100 · · Score: 1

      You forgot the part in Belgium where your gross revenue is taxed 13% social security + 50% federal tax + 4% local tax (8% on the 50%). Oh, and your employer also pays 33% on your gross salary.
      What's that? the federal tax of 50% is only in the highest tax bracket? right, the bracket over 35k$. Luckily the lower tax brackets are only 45% between 20k and 35K and 40% between 10k and 20k.
      I sure am thankful I get to keep 1/3rd of my gross income (sarcasm).

    23. Re: Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've seen no correlation between "live to work" servile personality type and skill or quality of output.

    24. Re: Demand vaca time and use it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "unlimited" PTO = no PTO

  9. What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    40 hour work weeks, enforced. 30 days paid vacation per year, plus holidays and weekends. If you work overtime one week, you get those hours back the next week. Everyone gets two days off in a row every week. If you give up those days for some special reason, you get comp vacation time to be used within the next month. Everyone takes all their vacation, every year.

    1. Re:What we need to enact... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

      Or at least raise the wage floor where overtime == time and a half. Obama tried this, Trump unfortunately rolled it back. Also, sometimes you need to work overtime two weeks in a row, crunch time to finish a project. I'd change that requirement to get the time back to something like a 2-3 month period.

    2. Re:What we need to enact... by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      In my field, year-long spikes are common.

      I'd support having all such things (including scheduled days off, vacation, overtime/comp time, etc.) kept indefinitely, with maximum caps for each kind. If an employee leaves for any reason, including being fired, they get paid out whatever they haven't used.

      I'm quite happy to help my team meet their goals and go the extra mile to deliver a quality product to our customer..... but I certainly expect that once that's done, I'll get to go spend time with my family.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    3. Re:What we need to enact... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      If the spike is a year long, time to hire more people vs abusing your own workers.

    4. Re:What we need to enact... by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Then in the off years, we'd have layoffs.

      People tend to like that even less.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    5. Re:What we need to enact... by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      40 hour work weeks, enforced. 30 days paid vacation per year, plus holidays and weekends.

      Par for the course in the UK.

      If you work overtime one week, you get those hours back the next week.

      Not par for the course, but it's pretty common the you will get it back sometime. A busy period coming up to a deadline could cover a few weeks.

      Everyone gets two days off in a row every week.

      .. usually happens

      If you give up those days for some special reason, you get comp vacation time to be used within the next month.

      You would usually get this, but may have to wait until the peak is over before taking the time back. Alternatively you could be paid - time and a half is quite common

      Everyone takes all their vacation, every year.

      In the UK it's exceptional for anyone not to take all their time. A company I worked for switched the "holiday year" from a fixed January-December to a year based on when you joined to prevent a large number of people being off at the end of the year to use their entitlement,

    6. Re:What we need to enact... by The+Fat+Bastard · · Score: 1

      You just described a government IT job.

    7. Re:What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Somebody please mod this fucking crap down!

      creimer's child bride retired military buddy suggested to him to "hide in plain sight" so creimer picked up "The Fat Bastard" as his new sock puppet user name!

    8. Re:What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree! I'm sick and tired of having this pastebin crap attached to my commetns!! Goddamn creimertards!!!

    9. Re:What we need to enact... by The+Fat+Bastard · · Score: 1

      Mod down! Creimertard pastebin!

    10. Re:What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      _,--=#[The Post CRIMER doesn't want you to read!!!]#=--,_ 1)Why-are-people-upset-with-him? 2)What-can-I-do 3)What-are-his-names 4)Who-is-FatCashewsLovesMe 5)How-to-defeat-his-hustles 6)Why-are-there-dashes 7)Pastebin-Copy

      1)Why-are-people-upset-with-himHe makes frequent low quality posts for two reasons:
      Money) BASICALLY: He made thousands of shitty posts & bragged about how much money it made him.
      DETAILS: He wants u to folow his referer links & pick up his cookie. Even if u dont buy what he linked but do buy something else from that site later on he often makes money;He ALSO tries to drive TRAFFIC to his various BLOGS & vlogs.
      Karma)He believes karma acumulates infinitely So he makes lots of pointles posts that r not bad enough to mod down;hoping they wil get moded up;He was a raging ahole when he thoght he had a karma surplus

      2)What-can-I-do DOWNMOD u wil usually get more mod points. If he is postng from a new sock acount w/ krma, get his oldst posts first. DOWNMOD him and AC in fresh thrads early on;Metmods wil reward u. METAMOD his posts. REPLY ONLY ANONYMOUSLY to the most deeply nested coments in his threds it helps hide his posts. Dwnvote his SUBMISSIONS, he uses to get krma. REPORT HIM to slshdot & the afiliate progrms he is usng. DONT MENTION his brand names c**mer.

      3)What-are-his-namesMost famous:Cre|mer Cdre|mer ILoveFatCashews, Anonymous Cashews, The Fat Bastard aka TCDR

      4)Who-is-FatCashewsLoveMe AKA Tardu Lardo,FCLM Funny & anoying; Not me or crimer;He keeps lookout for infestation

      5)How-can-I-avoid-his-hustles --===DONT FOLLOW HIS LINKS!!!===--
      IF YOU MUST:Use a privte tab & nevr buy anything on the same sesion. If he fools u, close tab, cler the cookies for that site. There r sites other than yutube that wil let u watch his videos. I dont know if people view his contnt but I can pictre his jowls jigling at the thoght of people subvrting his business model
      6)Why-are-there-dashes & weird stuffI know most only skim thse posts. I want the most imprtnt infrmton to pop out at a glnce & to keep it shrt. I dont use TCDRs name becase he may think tht he benfits from geting it indxed by serch engnes. Id like 2 thnk TCDR & FCLM for editrial advice

      7)Copy: http://archive.is/TtDrY

    11. Re:What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      MODDOWN! ; creimer karma whoring sock puppet post!

      CREIMER' SUBMISSIONS UPDATE:
      Note also that creimer is trying to regain karma by getting his submissions published as articles on /. so make sure to go to:
      https://slashdot.org/~The+Fat+...
      https://slashdot.org/~__aaclcg...
      https://slashdot.org/~IDrinkFa...
      https://slashdot.org/~_sharp'r...
      https://slashdot.org/~crreimer
      https://slashdot.org/~cdreimer
      https://slashdot.org/~criss69
      https://slashdot.org/~Anonymou...
      https://slashdot.org/~FatCashe...
      https://slashdot.org/~ILoveFat...
      https://slashdot.org/~IHateFat...
      https://slashdot.org/~IAteFatC...
      https://slashdot.org/~ITapeFat...
      https://slashdot.org/~IApeFatC...
      https://slashdot.org/~IPrayFat...
      https://slashdot.org/~FatCashe...
      and mod down his submissions as well. The great thing is that you don't even need mod points to mod down a submission, just click on the "minus" icon!

      Yes, believe it or not, creimer owns all the above sock puppet accounts. It is a mystery why Slashdot management tolerates it!

      creimer wrote:

      I don't bother with mod points. I'm doing something much more sinister. It took ten story submissions ? I'll have to double check the number ? to move cdreimer's karma from neutral to excellent without ever being exposed to the capricious mods. Mmmmmwwwwahahahahahahaha!

      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      Danger, Will Robinson, Danger! Creimy is posting more than 2 posts a day. Hurry! mod down otherwise /. will go to hell again!

      Note: you can mod down even if already at -1 to lower karma and to prevent lost /. users to accidentally mod up.

      creimer wrote:

      All you need to do is find a website with a permissive TOS, say, Slashdot, create a Python script to scrape your own comments, sprinkle Amazon affiliate links in various posts, and then re-post past links whenever possible. Won't be long before you start making "coffee money" each month.

      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      C.D. Reimer is a renowned Slashdot collaborator, as he puts it himself; "Because of the quality of my posts and my article submissions, I'm a highly rated commentator and moderator."

      But does anybody ever wondered what "C.D." stands for? Well, it stands for Creimy Dumpty of course!

      Creimy Dumpty sat on the wall,
      Creimy Dumpty had a great fall.
      All the king's horses
      And all the king's men
      Couldn't put Creimy Dumpty
      Together again.

      Creimy's siblings video and theme song, very realistic, especially the pants, just like Creimy's:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      With "Vice President Pence Vowing US Astronauts Will Return To the Moon", we are sure they will need miracle workers up there, here is what it would look like. Note that Creimy takes care of bringing a lot of food to the moon as depicted below:
      http

    12. Re:What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Buzz off creimer!

      Here are some posts from creimer's old account that was blocked and renamed by Slashdot management. I'll start with his love of child brides.

      If all my assets were liquidated, I would still have enough cash to buy a new car and head off to Mexico to find a chica to marry.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      You're aware that are some states in the U.S. that allow underage marriage as young as 14 years old?
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      As for my comment, I've heard stories of engineers retiring at 50, moving to Mexico and marrying underage girls. Since I work with ex-military, the Philippines is a popular retirement spot for marrying underage girls as well. It's all about getting the most bang for your retirement dollars.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      That only works if you retire to Mexico, build a mansion (by local standards), marry an underage sweet thing and bequeath all your possessions to the village.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      You need to be more specific. I wrote 3,000+ comments this year.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      Nah... I just do it to piss off my trolls and make coffee money off of them.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      We have different priorities. You want to climb the corporate ladder. I want to own the corporate ladder.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      Your bitch licks your balls. Most people don't brag about practicing bestiality. Is there a reason why you married a dog and not a goat?
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      My employers don't care about what my Slashdot trolls think. Now go off and lick your balls somewhere else.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      iPhone 6s and reduce my monthly bill from $80 to $50. As a phone and a video camera, the iPhone 6s isn't obsolete. As a Sprint customer for 20+ years, Sprint will always offer me a new iPhone if I decide to stop using the 6s as a phone in the next several years.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      Miracle workers are never afraid to ask for a second opinion. Supervisor gave me his opinion ? and a mess to clean up. Lesson learned from this incident: if something isn't quite broken, break it.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      So you can turn around call me a liar again? People have been playing that game with me for years.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      Based on what I've read about Uber, he need to tell the boys to clean up their locker room behavior, zip up their pants, and attend sensitivity training until everyone agrees that women are not sexual objects.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      Which doesn't violate the Slashdot TOS. If you got a problem with that, take it up with management.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....
      This year I've posted ~4,000 comments.
      https://slashdot.org/comments....

      I don't bother with mod points. I'm doing something much m

    13. Re:What we need to enact... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Hire people as term-contract workers with the understanding that they're temporary unless otherwise informed.

    14. Re: What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "raise the wage floor where overtime == time and a half. Obama tried this"

      Huh? No he didn't. Obama held working people in contempt, and it showed in his policies.

    15. Re: What we need to enact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A: Did you hear about the creimertard that went on a date?

      B: No, I didn't.

      A: That's because it never happened. And never will.

  10. First Post! Yes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At least it would have been if I wasn't so burnt out.

  11. A good chunk of it is probably incentive by MikeRT · · Score: 2

    If companies were to regularly take 10-20% of their profits and divide them up into bonuses for employees who work overtime, I bet a lot of these people would be much happier. Where I work, it is just a given that even if you brought in a few million dollars of new work for the company, if you're not "management," you typically don't see a bonus. Then they wonder why no one below management tends to give a damn about finding new business unless they're guaranteed a salaried slot on it (which is rare, so motivation is low).

    1. Re:A good chunk of it is probably incentive by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

      Not enough. Money is not a substitute for time off and free time.

    2. Re:A good chunk of it is probably incentive by Cederic · · Score: 1

      People are rarely motivated by just money. One thing that a lot of people value is time out of the office.

      Giving them more money often has minimal impact.

    3. Re:A good chunk of it is probably incentive by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      Yeah, you'd think. But that's more true of physical labor rather than knowledge workers.

      Still... That's a pretty obvious path to apathy when making the company millions doesn't get you a dime.

  12. What is the opposite of burnout?... by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

    ... because that word describes my current situation quite well. I do work a ton, on quite demanding stuff and by taking lots of risk. Currently, I am not precisely earning a lot. But I do love my job, perhaps even a bit too much. And I think that this is the key issue here: really liking what you do or not.

    "Most of tech workers not liking their jobs are suffering from job burnout" sounds more descriptive of the actual reality. The tech world does seem quite tough for those not truly enjoying it, in general or under the given conditions.

    --
    Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    1. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... because that word describes my current situation quite well. I do work a ton, on quite demanding stuff and by taking lots of risk. Currently, I am not precisely earning a lot. But I do love my job, perhaps even a bit too much.

      Stockholm Syndrome?

    2. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      Stockholm Syndrome?

      I work for myself and I put lots of effort/time into getting what I want in the way I want it. I see it as an long-term investment. Anyone directly enjoying the outputs of my work will always pay the fair price. In any case, my point was that, even under very tough conditions, tech doesn't seem too burnout-prone, at least among those really liking it.

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    3. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by losfromla · · Score: 1

      If you're working for yourself, at your own company or pet project then you are not part of the group under discussion. Go set yourself over next to Elon there, you can give each other a wank while you discuss how much more productive you are now that you moved a couch into your workspace.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    4. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      Go set yourself over next to Elon there

      So, I say that I am self-employed and you are automatically assuming that I am rich (Elon-like rich!!). At least in my country, Spain, self-employment represents a relevant proportion of the total workforce and most of them are far from being rich. Usually, this situation is associated with systematically (over-)working and taking lots of risk. In fact, my situation is a quite extreme case as far as meeting my expectations is very difficult and, as clearly highlighted in my profile description, I don't have too much money. Even if my situation wasn't that hard, it would probably have been worse than the one of most of US-based developers, whose salaries and working conditions are really good.

      I have to work much harder than someone with a full-time job (looking for clients, promoting myself, managing lots of others issues, etc.) and this doesn't even guarantee me to get money. Logically, the potential benefits are much higher than the ones associated with a more conservative situation, exactly the same that happens with anything else. On the other hand, for someone like Elon (not sure about his whole life story but I understand that his family is wealthy) there isn't exactly a properly speaking risk as far as converting a lot into much more is relatively easy. This is certainly not my situation. My personality is also quite far away from ideas like egoism, narcissism, careerist, etc. which seem advantageous under these conditions. I might even say that my personality and expectations have a relevant negative impact on my growth as a self-employed programmer.

      Long story short: burnout would be the most probable outcome of my working conditions if I wouldn't like my job (basically coding, data analysing and having lots of things up and running perfectly; I also might move a couch or take care of lots of things about which a full-time employee will never have to worry, but all of this is unpaid over-work) so much. I can certainly choose my working conditions or with whom I want to work, but that comes at some expense similarly to what happens when you quit a job which you don't like.

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    5. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by losfromla · · Score: 1

      I was not assuming you were Elon-rich, if you read my comment, you will notice that I never described you as wealthy. So your entire rant is based on a misread of my very clear response, the self-employed are in a different category.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    6. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      So your entire rant is based on a misread of my very clear response, the self-employed are in a different category.

      My entire rant was based on the idea underlying your whole post that I or what I do or what most of self-employed programmers do is related at all to what someone like Elon Musk, personally (billionaire) or as per his job (C-level tasks in a multi-billion company), does at work. And I explained you that I do pretty much everything that any full-time employee does (senior developer specialising in quite demanding stuff) + many other things = more burnout probability for me. I understood both your post and your misperception (+ prejudices?) perfectly.

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    7. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by losfromla · · Score: 1

      You read things into my post that were not written in my post. The underlying idea behind my post was not what you imagined it to be. The underlying idea was that you do what you do for yourself and your own enrichment. No one makes you do it, that was the point. Anything else was you letting your imagination put things into my response that were not written there. I only used Elon as an example because if I used some more obscure person or someone from the past, like early-days Wozniak, the post would have become awkwardly long and less relatable.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    8. Re:What is the opposite of burnout?... by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

      you do for yourself and your own enrichment. No one makes you do it, that was the point.

      Can you please tell me what are the motivations of full-time employees as opposed to mine? Employees want to enrich themselves and nobody forces them to work on a given company. If they don't like certain conditions, they could try to get a different job. Exactly the same than I do by replacing jobs/bosses with clients. If I want to find ideal clients, I would have to spend much more time/effort/money, like any employee rejecting non-ideal jobs.

      Although your intention is slightly clearer now, your post still shows your misconception regarding what self-employment involves. You picture a very famous, rich, successful version without understanding that this is the best possible outcome, not a descriptive sample. Usually, the over-work or stress levels associated with riskier situations are much higher. A salary, long-term job gives stability, quasi-certainty, a controlled environment; even the working conditions are usually easier as far as you have to follow instructions and bear a limited amount of responsibility. Equivalent ideas can be applied to small, struggling companies vs. big, well-established ones.

      One descriptive example: company A wants a given piece of software to be built and hires company B. In company B, the upper managers B1, B2 and B3 will take all the blame for any problem with the contract, payments, company A not liking the product, etc. Boss B4 will be responsible for any miscommunication between upper management and the technical levels. Bosses B5 and B6, leading the two development teams taking care of the implementation, will be held responsible for any technical problem avoiding company A to have the contracted product as expected. Developer B53, developing the modules 1, 2 and 3, will take all the blame for any problem provoked by a mistake in any of those. Developer B53 might not like these specific tasks or boss B5 might be pushing him a bit too much (because boss B4 is pushing him too, because...). His working conditions, in this project or in general, might be objectively very hard and he might burn out. But he is doing this work because he wants. He is being pushed because he accepts to be pushed. And he is not looking for any other job because he doesn't want to do so. Now replace company B with self-employee C and unify all these stratified responsibilities, stresses, problems into the same person. This is what self-employment is basically about. A different story is self-employee C (because of having lots of work or having lots of money or because of whatever reason) hiring other people, becoming the top boss with absolute independence and basically performing the kind of tasks that your comments are suggesting. Technically speaking this would be a company and self-employee C would be its owner. On the other hand, this isn't necessarily the normal or even ideal evolution of self-employment; some people might not even aspire to be bosses and to manage people, but just to continue performing their work under the conditions they want.

      By taking your Apple analogy, my situation wouldn't be like the one of Jobs (manager) + Wozniak (technical stuff), but like just a Wozniak with no Jobs and not wanting to have one. In fact, this is a very common form of self-employment: specialised workers focusing on what they are good at, by taking all the risk and looking for the conditions they want. They leave the safety of a regular salary and other people taking care of lots of side issues, over-work a lot and, eventually, accomplish what they want or get burnout after having been dealing with many more problems than what a full-time employee will ever do. They certainly decide to do that, exactly the same that anyone working for a company makes that conscious decision. You might prefer a more conservative approach and perhaps cannot even understand why self-employment exist, but thinking that taking much more risk/responsibility doesn't notably increase

      --
      Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
    9. Re: What is the opposite of burnout?... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow you're a smarmy little turd burglar.

  13. washtech org by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Join a technology union. I'm sure your libtard leaders who increased H1B slave labor, er, um, visas every year won't mind a bit. It's the "liberal" thing to do really. Only a corporate fascist in Democratic Party clothing would object.

    1. Re:washtech org by losfromla · · Score: 1

      Except that repugnicans pushed for this just as strongly. Don't create divisions where none exists. Us fighting amongst ourselves only helps keep us all down while we are raped by the wealthy.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
  14. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tech work culture is seriously broken when 80 hour weeks and never going on vacation for any reason is encouraged and celebrated. Burnout under such conditions is inevitable.

    +1

  15. The office by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've done a lot of Peopleware like consulting, mostly for software development teams. The IT office space is in general the enemy of these teams. They are noisy and destroy your concentration. You can only break someones concentration for a finite number per day, certainly with introverts, after that the dev is just excausted. As a rule of thumb, the correlation is more people wearing headphones -> more burnout. It's fucked up that people need to wear headphones to attempt to do their work, and a clear sign the environment is poison to their jobs. Of course they put all these people in the same space, to save money. Hardly ever do they do the math, and contemplate how much it costs them in burnout and turnover.

    1. Re:The office by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seated next to the server room with a door that cannot be closed due to cooling issues. Nodding in agreement with my headphones on.

  16. so... by buddyglass · · Score: 5, Informative

    Does this result argue for wider adoption of Netflix's H.R. model, as expressed in the manifesto that went viral a few years back? Namely:

    1. Hire "A" players, because the competence of one's coworkers is a large contributor to employee satisfaction.
    2. Don't use golden handcuffs as a means of mitigating hiring churn; you want employees to stay at the company because they want to be there. Employees choose how much stock they want vs. cash.
    3. Don't use performance based bonuses; high performance is the base level expectation, not something to be singled out and rewarded.
    4. "We're a team, not a family." You don't "cut" people from a family; you do "cut" people from a pro sports team.
    5. "Hard work - Not Relevant". They care about productivity, not how hard you worked to be productive.
    6. Low tolerance for "brilliant jerks".
    7. Pay "top of market" wages. "One outstanding employee gets more done and costs less than two 'adequate' employees." "Employees should feel they are being paid well relative to other options in the market."

    1. Re:so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      7. Pay "top of market" wages. "One outstanding employee gets more done and costs less than two 'adequate' employees." "Employees should feel they are being paid well relative to other options in the market."

      This is probably THE most important policy here, and what gets the other 99% of the market so frustrated. When you're a salaried worker with zero overtime benefit on call and working 60 - 80 hours a week, the LEAST your employer can do is pay a decent fucking wage.

      And yet, so damn many of them refuse to do so.

    2. Re:so... by TFlan91 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Then refuse to work, yes you may get fired, but what's worse than getting fired? Working for free.

      My boss is lucky if I even look at my phone off-business-hours, let alone pick it up and respond.

      Sure, if an email is prefixed with "URGENT" or whatever, I take a look, but then I lazily come in the next day an hour or two "late".

      It's all about the contract you signed with your employer. Don't sign shit you haven't read, and don't sign away your youth for pennies.

    3. Re:so... by djinn6 · · Score: 1

      "Hard work - Not Relevant" is probably the most important part. Trying to implement it, however, is much harder. At some point, there'll be someone who finishes all their work in 3 hours and goes home. Most managers will intervene when they see this, either by coming up with busywork or just telling them to stay to keep up appearances.

    4. Re:so... by buddyglass · · Score: 1

      And yet, so damn many of them refuse to do so.

      And yet, they continue to find people to fill those positions. I think there's just disagreement over whether "pay top wages and get top people" is the optimal strategy to pursue organization-wide. Netflix apparently believes it is. Most companies, judging by their behavior, do not. Here's why I tend to side with Netflix:

      a. The difference between "top pay" and "average pay" is not that huge. Maybe 10-20%. If your interview process is at all effective, "top pay" will probably allow you to get people who are more than 10-20% more effective than the ones you'll get at "average pay".
      b. Working with "top people" is a job perk that serves to mitigate how much pay it takes to recruit "top people". If I knew going into a salary negotiation that my coworkers would be high-quality, then I would be willing to accept a lower level of compensation.

    5. Re:so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty sure they don't pay top dollar.

      They may not throw around a lot of year end incentives, but you better believe they are increasing the salary of top talent. People will go elsewhere when they realize they are being undervalued.

      This seems like a set of statements to please their grunts and ease pressure. Not surprisingly, a lot of the pressure people feel is something they do to themselves. I've survived in the industry for quite a bit and made it through some very high pressure zones with relative ease.

      I can only do so much and I can only solve problems so fast. If my employer thinks I'm under performing or I think they are over reaching we can always part ways. Sometimes an internal transfer is enough to satisfy that re-negotiation, but I've never been upset with changing companies. I put enough effort into finding a new company that I'm generally fond of the transition.

    6. Re:so... by buddyglass · · Score: 1

      you better believe they are increasing the salary of top talent

      Quite likely, since this doesn't contradict anything in their manifesto. It specifically discusses compensating employees above their individual market value. A superstar is going to have a higher individual market value. Unless I just missed it, it doesn't stipulate anywhere that all employees with a given title need to be paid roughly the same.

    7. Re:so... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      No shit, of course they will. If you only had 3 hours work then you should be given more.

      If it's an occasional thing, fine. If it's regular, it suggests the employee is under utilised and that's definitely something to address.

      I've fucked off home at 2pm many times, going, "I'm not being productive, I'll see you tomorrow."
      I've also been last person in the office many times, going, "This bastard thing gets finished tonight."

      What I never do is go, "Oh, I finished all my work." I can always find new and different ways to add value to my employer.

    8. Re:so... by djinn6 · · Score: 1

      What I never do is go, "Oh, I finished all my work." I can always find new and different ways to add value to my employer.

      Just curious, how much of that value actually gets passed on to you?

    9. Re:so... by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Enough that I'm taking a gap year, doing a lot of travelling, enjoying life. Not enough that I can retire.

    10. Re:so... by sad_ · · Score: 1

      Does this result argue for wider adoption of Netflix's H.R. model

      I hope not, even netflix, even though best in class, still has a burn-out rate of almost 40%, that is still way to high!

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
    11. Re:so... by lucasnate1 · · Score: 1

      1. Hire "A" players, because the competence of one's coworkers is a large contributor to employee satisfaction.

      By definition, most players will NOT be "A" players.

    12. Re:so... by buddyglass · · Score: 1

      Apparently better than the alternatives, though. Perhaps Netflix's rate is the best we can hope for given the nature of the work.

    13. Re:so... by buddyglass · · Score: 1

      Agreed. In this context, the "A player" designation is relative to the entire universe of possible candidates. If the top 5% (choose your metric) are "A players", then Netflix may strive to hire exclusively from this small set of candidates.

  17. Surprise, poor survey sampling gives poor results by ranton · · Score: 2

    I'm not surprised that a significant number of users who don't feel comfortable talking to coworkers without anonymity are feeling burnout at work. This wasn't a commissioned study with careful target sampling, they just showed this question to their users. The title of this article should be "57% of Tech Workers Who Use The Blind App Are Suffering From Job Burnout, Survey Finds".

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  18. Fallacy of relative privation by sjbe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Try working construction for minimum wage and not knowing where your next job will come from. Then have your blood pressure tested.

    Ahh the "staving people in Africa" argument your mother made to get you to eat your vegetables. Great example of the fallacy of relative privation. Just because other people have it worse doesn't mean you should be grateful for a possibly better but still bad situation.

    1. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Yes, you should be grateful, but you are an ungrateful self centered little shit. Common malady.

    2. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps, but the comparison allows you to see that in the end, you are still relatively better off in the West than 90% of the planet. Almost everyone in the West has access to clean, running water, food, and a roof over their head. The poorest inner-city people in America are rich in comparison to their distant cousins in Africa.

      It begs the question: Why is it that poor inner-city people complain about having nothing, yet manage to be driving around town in Cadillacs, sporting iPhones, and $200 mugging moccasins (high tops)?

    3. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Try working construction for minimum wage and not knowing where your next job will come from. Then have your blood pressure tested.

      Ahh the "staving people in Africa" argument your mother made to get you to eat your vegetables. Great example of the fallacy of relative privation. Just because other people have it worse doesn't mean you should be grateful for a possibly better but still bad situation.

      I would posit that humans in fact need someone to be worse off than them as a coping mechanism for their own suffering/misfortune/whatever. No matter what you are going through, the knowledge that someone else has it worse than you allows you to claim some sort of superiority or status over them. A child that is neglected or abused at home becomes a bully at school because he can exert power over his victims. A low wage worker in an unskilled menial job supports cutting safety nets because "I'm busting my ass and can barely get by, why should they get by for free?". It's why poverty porn works, part of why we scapegoat. Humans are hierarchical animals and in a hierarchy the worst place to be is on the bottom and, if you can't identify a group below you, you are on the bottom.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    4. Re: Fallacy of relative privation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. Gratitude and appreciation of the good things is as applicable to a life of poverty as to a life of wealth.
      With regards to shaping your existence, your attitude matters more than relative circumstances in almost every relevant metric, be it functional, aesthetic, or qualitative.

      Wealth is good. Gratitude and appreciation is also good. And seriously, "poor" in America isn't exactly like "poor" on the streets of Delhi or Chennai. There's much to be grateful for.

    5. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bullshit. Or, at least don't expect sympathy for your own made up plight. You can be an entitled baby, but you will be miserable. You don't have to be an entitled baby.

    6. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, it's much better to just know that you'll never have anything better.
      You'll be much happier this way.

    7. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by Cederic · · Score: 1

      I would posit that humans in fact need someone to be worse off than them as a coping mechanism for their own suffering/misfortune/whatever

      For many of us the younger self is a perfectly adequate foil.

      Right now my income is lower than at any point since before I left school. I'm still better off than I was through large portions of my life.

      Shit, I just ordered pizza. I was 19 before I ever had a pizza that wasn't a shop bought bread base with some cheese and pepperoni on it, because pizza in restaurants was too expensive and delivery cost more.

    8. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Great example of the fallacy of relative privation.

      Plus 110010001000 has clearly never worked a day of construction in his life. Frankly I don't think he's ever worked a day of anything in his life, since that's hard to do from his mother's basement.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    9. Re:Fallacy of relative privation by losfromla · · Score: 1

      For the same reason that you're a racist douchebag, I imagine. No offense.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    10. Re: Fallacy of relative privation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck off, Comrade Wang.

  19. Comparison data? by cleavet · · Score: 2

    Does anyone know how this compares with other professions?

  20. Re:Manage your choices wisely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you work under such conditions by choice then it is on your shoulders alone.

    No, you're wrong. Those working conditions are spreading everywhere. Companies have figured out that instead of hiring more people, they can force others to work more for the same pay.

    Don't like it? Get out. And then there's the bullshit of "well, others are doing it!"

    And the days of walking out of one job into another are gone - unless you're in the hot skill du jour. Which these days is AI. And god forbid you're over 40: things get real hard then.

    And then how does one check on that when interviewing? I had questions about hours and being on call and the interviewer picked up on it. When asked if I had a problem with long hours, I replied, "I want a life."

    I received an email later that day, "We're sorry, but you don't have the skills. We are going with another candidate."

    I had recruiters stop calling me when I stressed my need for free time and the requirement of 40 hour work weeks. I even got a lecture.

    This field is shit and pays shit for the time and stress one endures.

  21. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by avandesande · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I hear this all the time but WTH actually does this? Anyone here at slashdot? Even when I was younger I did an all nighter just once or twice. I've been working 8 hour days the last 15 years.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  22. Learn to say NO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've recently retired after 42 years in IT. I never wanted to become a manager so I didn't. What I did do was learn to tell those idiots with MBA's and embryo PHB's 'No, I can't do all this extra work you want me to do. I'm already fully loaded as you well know. You are the manager so manage my workload or find someone else to do the extra'.
    After a while they got used to it.

    However before I started saying 'No' I was hospitalised with stress induced angina. It was a turning point and my stress levels declined dramatically. I was lucky. Many are not.

  23. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by greenwow · · Score: 1

    The no vacation thing pisses me off. My entire adult life, I've only had one "real" vacation if you define it as a whole week off.

    One reason there's such a lack of vacation time here in Seattle is that in Washington state, the law only requires less than 2/3 be paid out. In CA, we have to pay out 100%. That's why in CA we require employees to take PTO to get it off of the books, but in WA we basically don't allow vacation time. No company I've ever worked for let programmers take even a fifth (as a guess) of the time we earned.

  24. Strawmen galore! by sjbe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, but the stress that tech people experience is completely fake. It REALLY doesn't matter if your work is done on time.

    It does if you want to remain employed with your current company. If that doesn't matter to you then you probably aren't stressed to begin with. If anyone who worked for me expressed that attitude they would be "succeeding elsewhere" in short order.

    No one is going to die if your software or network doesn't work.

    I'd like to introduce you to some folks who work in medical IT who will disagree with you rather strongly. Same thing with software that controls/drives cars or airplanes or manned rockets or traffic signals or ocean navigation or food safety or electrical grids or nuclear reactor controls or.... The list is very long for things that actually do matter. Yeah, nobody probably cares if your word processor crashes but more than a few of us do things that have serious consequences.

    Amazingly humans survived for thousands of years without IT or computers.

    Ok we're done here. Claiming people shouldn't have stress because computers didn't exist 200 years ago is irrelevant and stupid.

    1. Re:Strawmen galore! by 110010001000 · · Score: 0

      That is the exact definition of "fake". You stress yourself out because you "want to remain employed with your current company" because idiots like you think that "having the work done on time" really matters. It really doesn't. You aren't important and neither is your "work". Oh and shut up and about software that "controls/drives cars, etc". None of that is crucial. Amazingly, we had cars and airplanes and nuclear reactors before software was invented. And I am not talking 200 years ago, try 50. You probably think you are super important, but you aren't. If your company vanished tomorrow, it really wouldn't matter.

    2. Re:Strawmen galore! by AlanBDee · · Score: 1

      You're painting a grim picture in saying that the work someone does does not matter but you are right that Jfetjunky is stressing himself out way too much, it's not that big of a deal if the deadline is met. I've met so many people people who do burn themselves out because somehow think that the world will come to an end if they don't hit that deadline.

      The truth is that if you care about what you're doing and are clearly doing what you can about the situation then it's unlikely you'll get fired. If you do get fired and you did the best you could then you're probably better off without that company anyway.

      I think it was the book, The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt, Thomas, where I learned several key principles as a way to help keep from getting burned out.

    3. Re:Strawmen galore! by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. You said it much better than I did. When I say it doesn't "matter" I mean it isn't worth stressing yourself to death about it, not that it isn't useful work. The world won't end (even if your entire IT company disappears!). What if Google went away tomorrow? Would the world end? Is Google useful, sure.

    4. Re:Strawmen galore! by IMightB · · Score: 1

      Yeah, stressing over a software deadline to add more whitespace to your app to make it more "appy" 2 weeks before your nearest competitors app does the same thing is stupid. I'm starting to get a bit depressed that literally everything I do in software is ephemeral, and in 3 months - 5 years completely irrelevant. Why should I stress out if some overlord won't get his bonus because he pulled some deadline out os his ass?

    5. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the crucial point your tongue-in-cheek jackass remark is missing is that when we are stressed about our work its not because of a fake sense of self importance its because we still have to feed our kids & pay mortgage and have a halfway decent rainy day fund and that can all go away if you get fired, which btw, is a very real possibility. it hardly matters whether your management is driving you for altruistic reasons or self serving when it comes down to a daily firefight around mostly unstructured work.

      Honestly in my entire carrier as software engineer I have rarely worked on a problem that we entirely knew how to solve beforehand, thats just the nature of tech. you dont think that causes stress? you must be management!

    6. Re:Strawmen galore! by 110010001000 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      In the software industry, all deadlines are completely fake. Most deadlines revolve around impressing Gartner and things like that. On the other hand, we need deadlines, otherwise people will be posting in Slashdot all day.

    7. Re:Strawmen galore! by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Give me break. If you are doing your job, you aren't going to get fired. And if you aren't, go get another one. The world needs good software people. If you are good, you are going to get a job.

    8. Re: Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope we aren't doing things and seeing them as important only if the world wonâ(TM)t fall apart without them. If software didnâ(TM)t exist right now, weâ(TM)d survive, but we are highly dependent on it. Our financial system, post system, manufacturing systems, transportation systems, food distribution, medical records, pharmaceutical production and research, accounting systems, asset management systems and stocking management systems, defense systems, etc.

      I donâ(TM)t use cash, so Iâ(TM)d have no money. I couldnâ(TM)t shop because the tils are run on software. The self-checkout ones are worse. Even to eat at subway, if I managed to pay, ignoring the software on the til, the drink machine runs on software! My bus pass is a smart card...so, that wouldnâ(TM)t work. The dispatch for that would be screwed up. Weâ(TM)d need people to manage traffic at cross sections since there would be no lights. This is becoming a ridiculous thought experiment. Software is important unless you want to live pre-1970 which isnâ(TM)t as easy as on/off. We are too integrated now.

      While we are at it, I guess electricity isnâ(TM)t important either or machinery or farming. The world wonâ(TM)t fall apart without any of those things. We could go back to being hunter gatherers!

      A lot of people would die, but, who cares?

      This reminds me of my cousin who is manic depressive and takes mood stabilizers. Some days you just have to ignore her, because everything is meaningless. Sheâ(TM)s a great person otherwise.

    9. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you use words with your own divergent definitions and do not explain them, do not be surprised when other people fight your point. Think globally act locally works for English too.

    10. Re:Strawmen galore! by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Most of my deadlines are driven by real things.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    11. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just because someone doesn't die doesn't mean its not stressful. There are plenty of situations in IT where failure can lead to corporate death where not just you lose your job but also all the people that you worked with. This is especially true in smaller companies.

      As an IT consultant I often walk into situations where an entire company is at a stand still because they lost their critical factory automation servers. I've even had a company lose all of their Active Directory domain controllers at once. Not entirely sure how it happened since it made their IT guy walk out and retire.

      Then there is the stress of being in front of millions. My first job out of college was for a live entertainment company. My 2nd event I had a two drive RAID 5 failure. In the middle of diagnosing the problem the owner shows up with 5 cameras in my face asking when it will be live.

      Then you have the hospitality kind of stress where you have dozens of people screaming because the Internet isn't working or pay per view or a thousand other things that are seemingly not that important. The reality is that most people like to remain gainfully employed. If you are in hospitality and ever show that you don't care then you will be out of a job and then have to deal with the stress of finding a new job and then adjusting to that company's culture and procedures. If you always changing jobs then it becomes harder and harder to find a new job as well. Then of course there is the reality that no one wants to hire anyone that doesn't already have a job.

    12. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got burned out at a job I had in my early 20s, working 100-120 hours a week for three years will do that to a person.
      Once i really understood that no matter how much work I got done today, there was still an infinite amount to do tomorrow I stopped the insane hours and felt much better. Then I quit and got a better job with lower stress developing video games.

    13. Re:Strawmen galore! by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      I'd like to introduce you to some folks who work in medical IT who will disagree with you rather strongly. Same thing with software that controls/drives cars or airplanes or manned rockets or traffic signals or ocean navigation or food safety or electrical grids or nuclear reactor controls or.... The list is very long for things that actually do matter. Yeah, nobody probably cares if your word processor crashes but more than a few of us do things that have serious consequences.

      If my word processor crashes, it will cost someone money. The CEO will threaten the Division Head, the Division Head will threaten the Branch Chief, the Branch Chief will threaten me, and since I don't have anyone lower to threaten, I'm in trouble! It might not matter in the grand scheme, but it can sure matter to me.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    14. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Give me break. If you are doing your job, you aren't going to get fired.

      Part of nearly every job is meeting deadlines dipshit. You are full of anger and hatred for it's own sake, claiming that deadlines don't matter and they do depending on which position allows you to spew hatred at other people. Clearly you have some personal issues in your life that you take out on others. I hope you are not married or have children and never will.

    15. Re:Strawmen galore! by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      I've been at this for 20 years now.

      Every few years you will throw out all the technology you've learned, and learn new technology that does the exact same thing. Get used to it. Your job is to learn new stuff...that does exactly what the old stuff did.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    16. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If my word processor crashes, it will cost someone money. The CEO will threaten the Division Head, the Division Head will threaten the Branch Chief, the Branch Chief will threaten me, and since I don't have anyone lower to threaten, I'm in trouble! It might not matter in the grand scheme, but it can sure matter to me.

      If they fire you, then who fixes the problem?

    17. Re:Strawmen galore! by losfromla · · Score: 1

      A schedule is not a real thing. It is something that a CAM pulled out of his ass. Even launch dates slip, everything is negotiable, you do your best and that is all you can do. Long hours just make you stupid, less productive, less creative, and result in a premature death. You also make other bad choices due to lack of sleep and relaxation including bad diet, lack of exercise, lack of socializing, poor hygiene, etc.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    18. Re:Strawmen galore! by losfromla · · Score: 1

      You're the one that sounds angry, calling 110010001000 a dipshit. You're also being generally angry and rude, and seeing anger in others, which appears to be more a statement about your state of mind than anyone else's.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    19. Re: Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well said. Been doing this 20 years and gone round the cycle several times. Can be rather depressing if you let it!

    20. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just blame the user and put some porn on his poota... problem solved.

    21. Re: Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But creamy's alt is a dipshit. I don't come here that often, but even I have read enough to see that pattern.

    22. Re:Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're good, you deliver by the deadline.

    23. Re: Strawmen galore! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Needs more â(TM).

  25. They're highly paid by DogDude · · Score: 1

    IT people are highly paid. If they're not, then they're in the wrong career. Take a few months off between jobs or something. "Burnout" is only a problem if you've got no other options. Otherwise, it's a life choice.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:They're highly paid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're highly paid and have vacation days accrued.

      POP QUIZ: You see a cold one, under a palm tree, on this white, sandy beach. What do you do?

    2. Re:They're highly paid by geekmux · · Score: 1

      IT people are highly paid. If they're not, then they're in the wrong career. Take a few months off between jobs or something. "Burnout" is only a problem if you've got no other options. Otherwise, it's a life choice.

      It's good advice, but I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that IT people are that much more wealthy where they can afford to take a 6-month sabbatical with little or no income. Certified Financial Scrooge is not part of an IT certification track, and IT people aren't really any better than the average person in avoiding debt or living paycheck to paycheck, even with a six-figure salary.

      Also, when I read "highly paid" with regards to IT jobs, I wonder exactly what that definition is. A low six figure salary might provide great life options in Nebraska, but it's considered damn near poverty in Silicon Valley.

    3. Re:They're highly paid by micahraleigh · · Score: 0

      There's a fair number of IT jobs that max people out, but the demand is high enough you can easily switch to a good job without much any digging.

      The age thing is a much bigger challenge. I guess I can't say that authoratively, though since I'm just 36, but I'm always the oldest wherever I work. And I can't get my older friends jobs.

  26. meaningless wanking by argStyopa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A single data point is statistically meaningless "woe is us" wanking UNLESS other industries are surveyed.

    If the "burnout" rate for tech workers is 57%, but for medical workers is 75%, factory line workers is 62%, and teachers is 60%, then the rate for tech workers is really not bad.
    If OTOH other industries scale at 20-30%, then the tech sector really is dire.

    In short: I suspect that everyone feels like they are underappreciated, underpaid, and is "fed up with all the bullshit at work"...like everyone else.

    --
    -Styopa
  27. Need unions and OT pay! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Need unions and OT pay!

    1. Re:Need unions and OT pay! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FUCK NO!

  28. janitorial jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Too many tech jobs are just cleaning up after Indian disaster after Indian disaster. And not in any sort of permanent way, just putting out the same fires over and over.

    1. Re:janitorial jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You got it in one. This is so true. Outsourcing does not work unless it's for really low level stuff like email servers, front-end Web development. Anything serious like systems development and security should never leave.

    2. Re:janitorial jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Too many tech jobs are just cleaning up after Indian disaster after Indian disaster. And not in any sort of permanent way, just putting out the same fires over and over.

      There are two kinds of IT people. Those who create. And those who fix creations. If you're tired of doing one, then figure out how to get paid doing the other, and feel good knowing you'll be working to fix your own disasters.

    3. Re:janitorial jobs by lucasnate1 · · Score: 1

      Most people can't be creators, society needs more fixers than creators.

    4. Re:janitorial jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a little tough when the industry runs to Indians first no matter what their track record.

      It's really difficult to suck as bad as the Indians. The only way I could figure to lower my performance that much was to shift into operations and suggest the most disruptive but still plausible solutions to problems caused by Indian stupidity.

      Lousy queries fill up tempdb? Reboot the server in the middle of the day. Because it doesn't matter if I know how to fix the query.
      Disk drives full again? Rent more space (too little, too much, don't care) at any price. Because it doesn't matter if crap needs cleaned up or data needs archived.
      Some license/type error? Reimage the server and start over. Because it doesn't matter if I can debug the real error.
      Mysterious application problem? I don't know, file a ticket with the developers. Because, hey, it's not my problem anymore.

      Ridiculously enough, I get paid more to be a lousy database/server admin than I could ever get programming stuff that worked well.

  29. Re:Manage your choices wisely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who ISNT working for a paycheck?

  30. 20 years in IT last month by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hit 20 years in IT in May. Things have radically changed since. When I emerged from college, having interned at Network Solutions, I moved up the ladder pretty quickly, which is almost impossible these days due to outsourcing. I went from 35k a year to 106k in 7 years. Then came the radical outsourcing, cutbacks, economy implosion, and the "cloud". I now make 1/2 of what I did due to all of this.

    Like many of you, I now live in an area that is fairly low-paying for IT. I have to live here due to family reasons, so moving is not an option. Even here in flyover country, there is outsourcing, a continuous creep to place everything in the "cloud" and do away with on-the-ground IT staff. I do far and away more than I am paid for, but the dearth of IT jobs keeps me here despite wanting to sometimes just throw down my badge and key and walk out. Sometimes the "romantic" notion of swinging a hammer or sawing wood for a living kicks in, but I'm in my 40s now and all the construction in my area is being done by illegal aliens. Trucks of men are collected every morning at Circle Ks around the area and taken to the various jobs sites, and paid daily in cash.

    I've thought of HVAC, welding, and electrician, none of which can be outsourced, but at my age do I really want to be out in the elements? I've thought also of starting a small IT company, but doing what? Everyone is outsourcing to Google, et al.

  31. Re:Manage your choices wisely by sinij · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is very nice to be independently wealthy and not have to worry about getting a paycheck, but for the rest of us we have to do it for a paycheck or face homelessness and possibly starvation.

    If all available work is under such conditions, is that really a choice?

  32. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let me quote the future: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, employee number 6345. Look at you: you're the Prodigal Son/Daughter; you're quite a prize! And like everybody, you have done the deed of getting onboarded, burned in and burned out. Revel in it!"

  33. Re:Manage your choices wisely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had to move to a different country to get away from this shit. US tech is nuts, and slave-driving people into an early grave. No wonder women are fleeing tech jobs, nobody who doesn't have to work this way wouldn't. They have choices and no responsibility of being main provider.

  34. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where I work, there is no separate "bucket" for bereavement. My father died and I can choose to take PTO (for vacation and sick time) or work.

  35. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tech work culture is seriously broken when 80 hour weeks and never going on vacation for any reason is encouraged and celebrated. Burnout under such conditions is inevitable.

    I would seriously doubt your credentials then.
    I've been in IT for over 30 years.
    I've taken 4 weeks of vacation in 30 years. One week when my dad died. One week for a camping trip, and the remaining two weeks were for things like my children being born.

    But then again, I actually *enjoy* what I do in addition to getting paid well for it. So I don't mind spending time in the evening or on the weekends improving myself, learning more, or putting in extra hours when the need arises.

    If you don't like IT that much, you either aren't working for a decent company or you aren't getting paid enough.

    My company could literally say "you will no longer be touching computers--instead you will be shoveling out septic systems" and it wouldn't bother me one bit because I'm in the top 5% of wage earners in my county. Why? Because I spend *all* my free time learning new technologies and improving myself. I am invaluable to the company because someone with my knowledge and experience usually takes up 2-3 people at $150,000/year each. And they know it.

  36. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I bet your Indian coworkers all get at least a month off each summer. Sucks to go year after year with only maybe a long weekend off, while so many of my coworkers get an entire month off.

    Also, all of my white coworkers are not married and all but one of the Indian guys are married. Their wives are great and help take care of them. We don't have that same sort of support.

  37. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I see it everyday. Every shop I've been in has the superstars. And everyone else is compared to that person or persons.

    So unless you're willing to do the same, you wont get promoted, wont get a raise, wont get to do the new cool stuff.

    Fortunately, for me anyway, there is always another job. But switching jobs also takes its toll and makes you look bad in some circumstances.

    I think it all boils down to the fact that technology sucks and doesn't work nearly as well as what we're told, so you wind up thinking that you are the problem or will be viewed as the problem when in fact we're just 21st century factory workers pushing buttons.

  38. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by swb · · Score: 3, Informative

    I work with people who proudly complain about "working until 2 am" or willingly take on all kinds of client work at ridiculous times because it burnishes their reputation.

    Some after hours work is unavoidable in IT, but I just refuse to work those kinds of hours regularly without added compensation of some kind (added vacation days without strings and/or more money).

    As a more skilled/experienced/older worker, I think I can get away with it but I'm not gonna lie, the people who do it seem to have more street cred in the organization because they are willing to bend over.

    I think it's highly organization dependent and sometimes individually dependent (ie, can you get done what needs doing in normal work hours). And I think there are definitely orgs where if you're not doing that, you might as well resign now because you will get shuffled to the shit work.

  39. Way to go Netflix! by rnturn · · Score: 1

    Only 38%-39% of your IT employees are burning out.

    That's something to be really proud of.

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  40. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by rnturn · · Score: 1

    I worked for a companies where IT people used to look for places to go on vacation that had no phones or pager service. For one co-worker's rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon started a trend among the IT staff: where can I go where the phone/pager coverage is really poor or non-existent? Far, far North Canadian fishing trips started getting considered. Can't have people actually having an outside-of-work life so the companies bought satellite phones. No more vacations for you without a corporate leash. Check in daily. Or else.

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  41. With all the BS courtesy of NSA/CIA.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .. and windows becoming a "service" and all things cloud - working in IT SUCKS these days...

  42. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Nobody really does. Drama queens. If you are regularly working 80 hour weeks in IT, you are dumb or you just really like to work.

  43. Re: ...if an email is prefixed with "URGENT" by rnturn · · Score: 1

    ...got sent to me on a weekend, my employer would be lucky if I saw it before Sunday night. If it went to my work email account, it most definitely wouldn't get seen until Monday morning.

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  44. Am I surprised? by whitroth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yep, so many folks LOOOVVVVEEE 50, 60, 70 hour weeks, and having to respond to the boss 24x7x365.25. Who needs a life?

    UNIONS are why we have benefits, weekends, holidays and vacations. No company did that out of the alleged kindness of their hearts.

    But none of you here need them, they're *so* "ancient", never mind they could get you a 40 hour week and no being bothered off hours, no, enjoy your (non-) life.

    1. Re:Am I surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You raise a good point about Unions.

      At the end of the day, if you don't have anyone with better conditions to compare to, you have much less chances of having better conditions in the end.

      This is the things with unions - you can have all kinds of arguments about them, but at the end of the day, they are the benchmark jobs.If their conditions (which are better than many) starts going downhill, then what chances are that your own conditions will start to go up suddenly, without the weight of a union behind? or even the conditions of your friends, or your children.

      Even if you don't like unions and are not part of one, when they fight for better conditions, don't say: well I have worse conditions anyway, they are complaining with their belly full. See that instead as improving the standard, increasing the benchmark everyone compares to.

      Even if you are elitist and believe that you are worth 4 times what a factory line worker is worth for any reason whatsoever, well, 4 times a smaller number is still smaller.

      When you realize that they play a crucial role for everybody on the market place, you probably will become more sympathetic. Not saying you should support all that they do or believe in, but if they fight for better conditions, whatever those are, I think it's worthwhile for everybody in the end.

    2. Re:Am I surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, maybe. I think the old Unions that exist today are not functional at all in an IT environment. For one, Im not paying some Union rep part of my salary so he can wine and dine the company I work for on my behalf. Second, how would you unionize just one department in a company? No one in their right mind would allow that.

      The fact is the reason IT people are treated the way they are is because we aren't worth as much as we think we are. We probably aren't worth as much as we get paid honestly. But every IT guy I see thinks they are literally holding the world in their own hands.

      Im not attacking anyone either, but it took me 10 years working in high-consequence nuclear facilities to come to the conclusion that 99.9% of what I do or have done just. doesn't. matter. Period. The fact is, in 5 years all this work will be replaced by something new anyway.

      Most of this will work itself out on its own. I suspect in the next few years, cloud will take more and more jobs and the few jobs that are left will be for either really high level folks or really low level.

    3. Re:Am I surprised? by whitroth · · Score: 0

      I read your post, and it strikes me that you don't know diddly about unions, other than what big business wants you to.

      You pay dues, not some rep. And those dues go to, among other things, a strike fund, and the management (and lawyers) who negotiate contracts.

      I've seen far too many computer people who think that they're such hot shit that they have leverage with management, and they can negotiate with them. The reality is that management's happy to outsource or offshore, and pay less, even though the work may not be anywhere near as good as what you do.

      And working as a contractor... whoever's buying your services is *also* paying for your manager, and their manager, and your company to make a profit. You're a subcontractor, self-incorporated? Then all that, *and* you have to worry about quarterly payments, etc.

    4. Re:Am I surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Benefits were sort of done out of the kindness of their hearts. There were wage freezes during a WW (forgot if it was WW1 or WW2) so companies starting adding benefits as a way to make their jobs stand out. We didn't them from unions. And today, they aren't a feature. Benefits are now used to keep you locked into your employer.

    5. Re:Am I surprised? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even in europe it can be difficult to combine IT and life

    6. Re:Am I surprised? by lucasnate1 · · Score: 1

      It's amazing how you can get people to love slavery.

  45. Pathetic by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Yes, you should be grateful, but you are an ungrateful self centered little shit. Common malady.

    Grow up. You post some of the most ridiculous drivel on this site and then have the stones to start calling names when someone points it out. If you don't actually have a rebuttal more eloquent than calling someone names then shut up and move on to your next troll.

    1. Re:Pathetic by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Pointing out that you are spoiled and ungrateful isn't drivel or name calling. It is reality. You SHOULD be grateful you live in a relatively wealthy country and work in IT and can post to slashdot. You should travel around the world and see how others live. The fact that you aren't makes you ungrateful for the things you have.

    2. Re:Pathetic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh yes, the fact that he didn't sell his computer so he could feed the poor makes him spoiled and ungrateful.

      News flash: it is easier (and certainly cheaper) in some areas to post to slashdot than it is to buy food. Welcome to the 21st century.

  46. Dragging down others by sjbe · · Score: 1

    I would posit that humans in fact need someone to be worse off than them as a coping mechanism for their own suffering/misfortune/whatever.

    Only the more pathetic and narcissistic among us. Sadly that seems to be a rather large percent of the population. I fear people don't need that but quite a number seem to enjoy it. If we do actually need to feel better than others then that is a very sad commentary on us as a species.

    1. Re:Dragging down others by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      I would posit that humans in fact need someone to be worse off than them as a coping mechanism for their own suffering/misfortune/whatever.

      Only the more pathetic and narcissistic among us.

      Not necessarily. The pathetic and narcissistic among us my do so consciously, but I would argue a vast majority do it subconsciously. We are always comparing ourselves to others in some way, even if we don't explicitly realize we are doing so. It's in our nature.

      I fear people don't need that but quite a number seem to enjoy it. If we do actually need to feel better than others then that is a very sad commentary on us as a species.

      It's not needed, but it's a coping tool, one of several that we have. Fear and hatred towards the "other" is another big one that is being prominently featured right now(think Terror Management Theory without the overly-morbid focus on death of the self and more it's projection onto other groups). There's also escapism, whether through relatively harmless acts such as fantasy or role play (cosplayers/furries/etc) or more damaging acts such as the increasing opioid epedemic.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Dragging down others by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That must be why all those reality shows where people get humiliated have such an overwhelming following that no other shows are made. Sorry I don't know their names, but the one where people sing to be humiliated, the ones where people cook to be humiliated, the ones where people hire someone to fix their place and humiliate them, the one with the restaurant that "will never make it".

      Sure it's fun to see the 1% (heh) of contestants succeed, but the draw is how the others get told how much they suck and that makes you at home feel better that you probably don't suck as bad at them.

      Or the never-ending "Cops"-type shows where we see randos being chased and made fun of by cops.

      A lot of people rubberneck at accidents on freeways, why ? to see someone else's misery and go ooooh that was a bad one.

  47. More than just money by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Who ISNT working for a paycheck?

    Do I really have to explain that some people don't really give a shit about what they are doing? Sure everyone works to get paid but some people actually try to enjoy what they are doing along the way so that the job is more than just a means to get money.

  48. Options by sjbe · · Score: 2

    It is very nice to be independently wealthy and not have to worry about getting a paycheck, but for the rest of us we have to do it for a paycheck or face homelessness and possibly starvation.

    You don't have to be independently wealthy to make a living doing something that you don't enjoy. If you hate IT work then go find something else to do. It's a big world with lots of opportunity.

    If all available work is under such conditions, is that really a choice?

    Are you seriously claiming that someone who is bright enough to find work in the tech sector will find it impossible to do something else if they put their mind to it? Possibly even something they actually enjoy doing with reasonable hours and adequate pay. Point is very few people are forced to work in IT. Arguing that they don't have a choice is really just nonsense in almost all cases.

    1. Re:Options by sinij · · Score: 1

      It's a big world with lots of opportunity.

      Old timer, this is no longer the case. It may have been true when you were young, but these days it is IT, gigs, or unemployment. Too many people in a globally connected world competing for the same few jobs.

    2. Re:Options by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 0

      Go back to school. Get a master's or Ph. D. Be paid to teach or do research on the public dime...

    3. Re:Options by apoc.famine · · Score: 2

      That's hilarious. Do you have any idea how many jobs there are available in academia? Not many. The issue is that if you do what you love, what's the incentive to stop? There's a reason that the average age of professors always hovers in the 50s and 60s. It's not uncommon to find semi-retired professors still kicking around well into their 70s teaching one or two classes they love.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    4. Re:Options by terrycarlino · · Score: 1

      This.

      A big part of the "must work" paradigm is the "I must have this what ever this is. So people take on a big pile of debt to have the car/house/RV/boat/whatever, and now they need the ridiculous salary to keep it all going.

      Add to that the "I must work in (the most expensive place on the planet to live), because there are no jobs anywhere else" myth. Right now there are absolutely jobs out there. Many of them are not in the coastal corridors. All kinds of companies exist outside silicone valley and Washington state. If you have a masters degree you can teach. There are teaching jobs all over the U.S. You might not want to do that as a permanent gig, but it can be a nice break, and if you think about it like that you can duck the stress of worrying about academic politics stress.

      Heck if you want to teach there are jobs all over the world. Great pay, as long as you go in knowing the limits and environment of such work.

    5. Re:Options by sinij · · Score: 1

      What you say is superficially true. However, lets frame this question in 'quality of life'. Can you optimize it by changing locations or lowering your standards? Absolutely. However, having to do work is very hard to avoid. You must be willing to live in a cave or cardboard box to completely move away from doing any work.

    6. Re:Options by sinij · · Score: 1

      Academia is absolutely the wrong way to go if you want quality of life. As a new PhD your fate is underpaid and overworked adjunct with no job security or at best publish-or-perish hell for 10 years. Tenured professors are minority of academia, and getting to that from fresh PhD is like winning a lottery.

  49. Never seen an APK rant then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have obviously never seen an APK rant. It is much like the above but with random bolding, excessive capitalization, pointless nested parenthesis, and childish name calling thrown in for good measure.

  50. Skewed towards Silicon Valley by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    Most of the companies mentioned are Silicon Valley tech firms, where the competition for jobs is fierce, and hours are brutal. In the rest of the country, my impression is that stress levels are much lower. I personally can't imagine a better job than the one I have, and I know many who agree.

  51. How many from each company responded? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If 3 people from company X responded, and 2 of them claimed to be suffering from job burnout, that 67% rate would rank quite highly in this survey. Without knowing how many people from each company responded, the claims are specious at best.

  52. Re: Surprise, poor survey sampling gives poor resu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or, worse, 57.16% of users of this app who decided to answer that question as sampled at that one time of day, self-identified as suffering from burnout. Thatâ(TM)s about the scope of the sample and what could possibly be gleaned from this. Definitely not a study.

  53. Is burnout a medical term? by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

    What is burnout? Feeling stressed? To me, burnout is being incapable of doing your job any longer.

  54. Statistics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not a single data point, but over 11,000 employees responded. Half of those felt they were suffering from burn-out. Now guess what percentage of those who were contacted for the survey, but did not respond, felt like they had burn-out. Probably a lot less.

    1. Re:Statistics by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The single data point is 57% of IT workers.

      That 11000 people were surveyed to create that single data point does not magically multiply it. It's still a single data point.

  55. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Kjella · · Score: 1

    I worked 55-60 hours a week for most of a year, mainly due to two senior people leaving with a month's difference and a third knocked his head pretty bad leaving me and a few juniors to sort it out. That was as an IT consultant though so I had a billing bonus that gave me pretty good kickback. If I recall correctly it kicked in at about 2/3rd = 67% billable time and the company average was 75-80% somewhere, so your average consultant would get bonus for like 10% while I could hit 50%+. Normally they wouldn't have let anyone rack up that many bonus hours but they were desperate to deliver so they paid me well to get out of a tight spot.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  56. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by registrations_suck · · Score: 1

    I've taken 4 weeks of vacation in 30 years. One week when my dad died. One week for a camping trip, and the remaining two weeks were for things like my children being born.

    Then you've been suckered, or have different priorities. One year, I took 6 weeks off to travel around the country. Another year, I took 4 weeks off and went to Australia. Another year, I took 6 weeks off and went to Africa. I've taken multiple 2-week vacations. Without checking e-mail. And yes, I live in the U.S.

  57. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by avandesande · · Score: 1

    I can definitely see how this can happen to a consultant and needing to make hay while the sun shines.. Mostly was addressing salary folks :)

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  58. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by painandgreed · · Score: 2

    I hear this all the time but WTH actually does this? Anyone here at slashdot? Even when I was younger I did an all nighter just once or twice. I've been working 8 hour days the last 15 years.

    My understanding would be Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc. although I've only really heard from people that have worked at Amazon. They hire new young and eager workers who they can work and fire them when they burn out. However, just as many leave before that. It's all part of an understood system where new workers agree to be overworked while padding their resume and looking for a new job. This lastrs for an average of 18 months before they have found a new job or get laid off. They hopefully hop to a better paying job than does the same till they decide upon an exit strategy of looking for a place with less upward mobility but more stability once they have reached the desired salary and skillset.

  59. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by avandesande · · Score: 1

    Same boat as you being an older worker. These guys get stuck on something (all night) and I usually can figure it out in an hour or two- I know it takes time but managers do appreciate folks that are cool and consistent.

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  60. Socialist Public Health System Centred on Popular by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jun. 25, Juche 107 (2018) Monday

    Socialist Public Health System Centred on Popular Masses

    The socialist public health system in the DPRK is the best one based on the great Juche idea.

    The public health in the DPRK is symbolic of the advantages of Korean-style socialism centered on the popular masses, where the working masses are masters of everything and everything in society serves them.

    Under the socialist system in our country, the people live in happiness free from all worries about healthcare.

    Free medical treatment is a major state and social policy in our country.

    Various healthcare policies, including a section doctor system, a system for keeping the children and women healthy and a social security system, are in force in our country. Besides, such professional medical services as telemedicine system and emergency treatment are making steady progress.

    The Party's policy of preventive medicine has been implemented so fully that all the people work and live in good health under more hygienic and cultured environment.

    The socialist public health system in our country is the best advantageous popular system in view of its character and substance.

    Choe Suk Hyon

  61. USAamerican Workers that is! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Living in a shithole country with rampant gun violence, no universal healthcare, a sociopath president, and under the constant threat of losing your job because theres no worker protection laws is certainly enough to "burn out" your tech workers.

    And we know you only know how to navel gaze so if its happening to you it must be important and happening to everyone right? SAD cuntry is sad.

  62. Re: You need a job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You posted 20 times in this thread about working people. During working hours.

    Hows life on welfare you loser?

  63. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by AuMatar · · Score: 1

    Bull fucking shit. Lived in Seattle and worked there for 7 years. Everyone took vacation. Everyone took time off. Nobody worked 80 hour weeks, nobody even worked 50. Nobody ever had a hard time taking vacation. This was at both startups and major companies (Amazon).

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  64. 57% of those using an app whose purpose it to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    enable bitching about work behind their bosses backs are burned out. Wow. What a surprise. Actually, it is. The numbers should have been higher. Perhaps 43% are there to goad, laugh at, and otherwise antagonize the bitchers and moaners.

  65. -1 Troll? It is meant to be FUNNY! by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's FUNNY! It is written by someone with an extensive knowledge of English colloquial expressions, or copied from someone with that knowledge. MOD PARENT UP!

    (There are areas where English is trashy. You may need to take a shower after you read this.)

    Title: "I hole-hardedly agree..." -- I whole-heartedly agree...
    "doubles advocate" -- devil's advocate
    "all intensive purposes" -- all intents and purposes
    "a diamond dozen" -- a dime a dozen
    "a blessing in the skies" -- a blessing in disguise.
    "on a petal stool" -- on a pedestal
    "a bunch of pre-Madonnas" -- a bunch of primadonnas
    "taking something very valuable for granite" -- taking something very valuable for granted"
    "mustard up all the strength you can" -- muster up all the strength you can
    "it is a doggy dog world" -- It is a dog-eat-dog world
    "you have a huge ship on your shoulder." -- you have a huge chip on your shoulder.
    " throw everything in but the kids Nsync" -- throw everything in but the kitchen sink
    "you are having a feel day with this" -- you are having a field day with this
    "I have a sick sense" -- I have a sixth sense
    "I cannot turn a blonde eye" -- I cannot turn a blind eye
    "I have zero taller ants" -- I have zero tolerance
    "what comes around is all around" -- what comes around goes around [what goes around comes around]
    "supply and command" -- supply and demand
    "Make my words" -- Mark my words
    "when you get down to brass stacks" -- when you get down to brass tacks
    "it doesn't take rocket appliances" -- it doesn't take rocket science
    "to get two birds stoned at once" -- to kill two birds with one stone
    "who makes the pants in this relationship" -- who wears the pants in this relationship
    "sometimes you just have to swallow your prize" -- sometimes you just have to swallow your pride
    "come to this conclusion through denial and error" -- come to this conclusion through trial and error
    "I swear on my mother's mating name" -- I swear on my mother's maiden name [not a usual expression]
    "when you put the petal to the medal" -- when you put the pedal to the metal
    "you will pass with flying carpets" -- you will pass with flying colors
    "it's a peach of cake" -- it's a piece of cake

    1. Re:-1 Troll? It is meant to be FUNNY! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The original post is a fairly old copy pasta from 4chan.

    2. Re:-1 Troll? It is meant to be FUNNY! by DeVilla · · Score: 1

      It's FUNNY! It is written by someone with an extensive knowledge of English colloquial expressions, or copied from someone with that knowledge. MOD PARENT UP!

      If you have to explain it, the clearly the author missed the mark and there post is a damp squid.

  66. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Else.

  67. Consider the source. by Thruen · · Score: 1

    This data MIGHT be accurate, it might even represent much more than just tech workers. But, the source of this data is a voluntary survey conducted within an app whose sole purpose is to allow you to chat with coworkers behind your employers back and anonymously review the place you work. Usage is probably skewed a bit toward those that aren't happy with their workplace. Personally, I'm more surprised that 43% of respondents from an app like that didn't claim to be burned out.

  68. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The only people who have a net positive production over more than a few days of over time are aspies. Everyone else who works more than 8 hours is just making more work for themselves. Tech isn't brick laying, it's problem solving. If you're in tech and effectively doing brick laying, automate it.

  69. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The no vacation thing pisses me off. My entire adult life, I've only had one "real" vacation if you define it as a whole week off.

    That's your own damn fault then. Stand up for yourself and take a fucking vacation. Don't be all wishy-washy about it. Tell your damn manager you'll be taking off between X and Y date that is several months away.

    Stop working yourself to death. When people are on their death beds, they never say, "I wish i had worked more".

  70. Surveys are mostly meaningless by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    Unless the sample selection is random, it's not an opt-in survey and there's no opt-out, then its results have no meaning.

    Only people who have personal motivation to answer the survey will - those who feel burnt out and want to complain about it in this case.

  71. Thanks Agile! by devslash0 · · Score: 1

    Long live Waterfall!

  72. Re:Manage your choices wisely by Shotgun · · Score: 1

    I'm 51. I don't work like that. I suggest you move out of the "high tech" areas. Nobody expects you to work like that in Raleigh, NC.

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  73. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Shotgun · · Score: 1

    Also an older worker. In my current gig, I was asked why I wasn't working all weekend like the other developers. Quote, "Because, my stuff works."

    I'm not the company superstar, but I've had the time to build two airplanes. My pay is still good.

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  74. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Shotgun · · Score: 1

    Did a phone interview with Amazon once. Told him at the end that I wasn't interested. I could see right through what he was getting at, and it is exactly what you reference.

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  75. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

    I certainly don't do it. You want me to work overtime, you can damn well pay me.

    But the common phrase around an embedded development shop in Denver is "I've already hit my 40 this week".

    I stayed way late one time making up some hours and a co-worker complained that "working late doesn't make me look special when everyone does it". And yeah, the lights are usually still on at 7pm. SOMEONE is still here.

    Some people are just workaholics.

  76. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by losfromla · · Score: 1

    Samers for me. I've been at it for 21 years. Worked through X-mas once but that was at triple-time, so not a problem. If I work extra hours (EWW) they are paid hours.

    --
    Only I can judge you.
  77. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by losfromla · · Score: 1

    Then get yourself an Indian wife, do some plowing, and quit your bitching.

    --
    Only I can judge you.
  78. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by losfromla · · Score: 1

    ^^^^^^^^
    IIIIIIIIIIII

    exactly!

    --
    Only I can judge you.
  79. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by losfromla · · Score: 1

    maybe it's time to renegotiate your salary, do this while taking all the vacation time you've missed in 30 years, they owe you about 56 weeks, plenty of time for them to think about your demands. You're probably also of retirement age or close enough which makes you all that much stronger in a negotiation.

    --
    Only I can judge you.
  80. meaningless pedantic wanking indeed by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    A single data point is statistically meaningless "woe is us" wanking UNLESS other industries are surveyed.

    Other data points are irrelevant to the subject at hand. How more or less other workers are burned out in comparison has jack and shit to do with IT, and Jack left town. If waitresses have it worse, it doesn't mean IT has it better. If accountants have it easier, it doesn't mean IT has it harder.

    Your attempt to forcibly inject relevance to the subject has no relevance.

    1. Re:meaningless pedantic wanking indeed by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Not at all. I mean, I get your point: IT workers are miserable. Got it.

      But my comment about it being meaningless wanking has to do with POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES. The world isn't absolutes; it's about relative options.
      The entire *point* of the story is about sympathizing with the plight of those workers.

      If any *other* job they can get people are MORE miserable, then, relatively, they're doing pretty well.

      --
      -Styopa
  81. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is highly organization dependent, but in general management is going to favor direct reports who are willing to be abused, so that management can abuse them without suffering any negative consequences. Sometimes that's just about money (if employee A is willing to do 80 hours a week at $x, that means management doesn't have to pay two employees $x and they save $x + overhead in costs). Sometimes it's about power. But being willing to trade away your own well being for someone else's bottom line usually looks good to the someone else, just be aware they'll think you're a mark who will take it up the butt without lube and not complain.

  82. Re:Manage your choices wisely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BS. I'm 48 and I'm still hit shit. Fuck you Ivan.

  83. Another by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1
    "copy pasta from 4chan" -- copy and paste from 4 chan

    It must be difficult for people for whom English is a 2nd language.

    Thanks for the insight. I found that on reddit.com/r/copypasta/ from a year ago.

    Also: 9/20/2016 Quoting:

    My girlfriend has a knack for creative phrases. Today's gem was "he's a hard egg to crack". Another recurring utterance is "pigeon toed" instead of "pigeonholed"

  84. Dr. Hyman "broken brain" explanation by apol · · Score: 1

    Why so many more burnouts declared today than before? Perhaps we just have more awareness. Perhaps our jobs are indeed more stressful.

    These may be important factors, but I don't think they explains this phenomenon alone. We see a huge increase in diverse kinds mental problems (ADHD, Alzheimer, depression). I think the "Broken Brain" hypothesis by Dr. Hyman quite plausible.

    http://drhyman.com/blog/2017/1...

    He claims that important factors for the decline of our mental health are diet and exposure to toxins, besides stress.

  85. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by painandgreed · · Score: 1

    Did a phone interview with Amazon once. Told him at the end that I wasn't interested. I could see right through what he was getting at, and it is exactly what you reference.

    Friend of mine played that game for about five years at Amazon, jumping around internally. Finally decided what he wanted to do and found a job out of state with a well padded resume at a company that desired stability.

  86. The trick is to stop caring by Rastl · · Score: 1

    tl;dr. Artificial deadlines, expectations of 60 hour work weeks, expectations of being connected 24/7/365, and caring about the same things as management are all the ways to crush your spirit.

    It sounds like burnout and it's darn close but honestly not caring about things helps put it all into perspective.

    I don't have my work email on my personal cell phone. So anyone sending a high priority email to me after my work hours isn't getting a response until my next work day. If they start requiring me to check my email all the time they can furnish me with a device to do so.

    I'm salaried but that salary is based on me working regular 40 hour weeks with an occasional rotation on call. If they start doing the 'work until the job is done no matter how long it takes' push then I continue my 40 hour weeks and see what happens. I honestly don't mind an occasional all-hands deadline but when they become more than a quarterly exception then it's a sign that management has no idea what they're doing.

    I learned long ago that working at a high rate of speed only gets you more work while the slower workers get tasks reassigned to the .. ones who work faster. Since I'm not that much of an idiot I don't try to stand out of the herd.

    Almost every deadline is arbitrary and only benefit the managers who set them. Those are the same managers who are going to get heat when their deadlines aren't met. It does roll downhill but again being in the middle of the pack shelters you quite nicely.

  87. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazon is notorious for requiring long hours. Fifty hours is the absolute minimum you must work in order to stay employed. If you want to work on the cool stuff and get promoted, you'll be working at least 70 hours a week. Also, you are expected to work weekends from July to the holiday freeze in October -- which really sucks 'cause that's pretty much the only time it's not dull, gray, and rainy in Seattle.

    Microsoft and Expedia aren't quite as bad, but you'll still be required to work 50-60 hours a week -- many of those outside of normal business hours in order to communicate with offshore teams.

  88. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I bet your Indian coworkers all get at least a month off each summer.

    You mean, they ask for a month off in the summer and get it. Did you know that you too could ask for time off, right?

    Also, all of my white coworkers are not married and all but one of the Indian guys are married. Their wives are great and help take care of them. We don't have that same sort of support.

    So you are bitter that the Indian guys have wives and you don't, I got it. Maybe, just maybe if you were a little bit more assertive in life, you too might have a wife. Instead you choose to be bitter and angry. Those are not very attractive traits.

  89. Re:Surprise, working people to death leads to burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been in IT for over 30 years.
    I've taken 4 weeks of vacation in 30 years. One week when my dad died. One week for a camping trip, and the remaining two weeks were for things like my children being born

    Congrats. You're a sucker. I get 3 weeks off minimum, and I take every fucking minute. This year I get 4, and you better believe I'm taking every single minute off.

    I earn it, I'm using it.

  90. e-ink and the ability to work outside by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want e-ink and the ability to work outside in the sun and hour a day, when it is warm at least. I think this would help.

  91. you just dont understand, obviously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's like arguing guns aren't dangerous because jumping into active volcanoes is more dangerous.
      No comparison is needed, guns are dangerous irregardless of anything else.

  92. Re: Surprise, working people to death leads to bur by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Indian guys all had arranged marriages. Different culture.

    But you're too ignorant to realize that. Go back to Facebook, shit stain.

  93. Re: Surprise, working people to death leads to bur by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Watch out, its an angry racist virgin! I'm sure you're a "good guy" too.

    Just go full MGTOW already.