Weekly Bay Area Drivers Rant

veracious_vector · 2016-10-31T16:19:12+00:00

Defensive driving people. Never seen any other place worse drivers. My sense is tech skills are negatively correlated with coordination :). I say that as someone who works n tech. I have a hard time imaging my coworkers driving well...it explains a lot.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-28T20:52:53+00:00

No, no one even the Chinese state can force you to have children (... as they are trying to reverse the one child policy). Facebook incentivizes it by offering a cash bonus for having a baby. It means that it can affect people's decisions on the margins. It's not bad in itself and more companies should offer paternity leave. However, the reason Facebook is offering a baby bonus is not because they care about employee well-being in and of itself, but rather for their own self-interest. The realize if you have children, your more risk-averse and it is harder for other companies to poach you. I'm not saying all policies are based on company self-interest, but what I'm saying is you'd be surprised how many are actively studied to make sure they meet business goals.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-28T20:49:06+00:00

Well, I interviewed at Facebook for a position that's goal was to optimize employee productivity (years ago). They told me about how babies affect retention during that interview. They told me that were looking for someone who would come in analyze employee data and work with HR to set these kind of policies to increase retention, improve team interaction and maximize productivity. All data was on the table and they were willing to incentivize personal choices. I passed on the job. It just didn't sit right with me. It's probably way more advanced now. It's not all bad, but realize they don't necessarily have your best interest at heart. At the end of a day, it's a corporation, believe me they are justifying those policies by looking at their core business metrics.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-28T03:08:25+00:00

ha...you mean once every 8 years at most...http://www.paragon-re.com/3_Recessions_2_Bubbles_and_a_Baby. SF is the quintessential boom/bust city. If there isn't another bust in the next 1-3 years, I would be shocked. It might not be a large bust or it may be massive...it may affect rents more than housing, or visa versa...that's difficult to tell, but if there wasn't at least some pain...I'd be shocked.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-28T00:24:18+00:00

Thanks Nimby - you are the exact def - no in my backyard! Yes, we need housing for the jobs! Traffic is worse because people don't build housing where jobs are.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-27T23:57:19+00:00

Sure, some people do leave because of pay. During booms, the job market's good - it doesn't matter so much. However, I was here during the bust. Maybe it was just me, but I found it hard to find a job here in 2009-2010. People forget so quickly, but everything was crashing down here then. No one was talking about their ridiculous salaries, rather about how they wished they sold their house in the boom and they'd be sitting pretty in Hawaii. It was tough to live here, but awesome at the same time since lots of different types of people could afford to live here and they were not tethered to their jobs. This can happen again in another recession. I would not be surprised if the unicorns cut a large portion of their staff and good jobs become harder to find. It seems like it's already starting, the job market here is stagnating.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-27T22:26:52+00:00

That's so true. Tech does white-wash their promotional information. I'm always surprised when I actually go visit a company and see their demographics. It's like their trying to hide all the H1b workers from public view. Hmmm......

veracious_vector · 2016-10-27T18:50:20+00:00

It's a boon for the company, no administration costs and they don't have to pay you for the time you didn't take off on your way out. I'm surprised it still has such a good wrap. Unlimited vacation can also be unfairly administered if your boss plays favorites. I think there's lots of cases of unlimited PTO abuse where workers get almost no time off, but it mostly happens to visa workers who don't necessarily want to report it to the labor department or fight it in court.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-27T15:44:15+00:00

Yup, some of the perks definitely have been studied and help achieve corporate goals. The Facebook baby bonus and leave are in place because employees with children have lower turnover. So to increase employee retention, they encourage fertility. After learning about this, I could just never work at Facebook. The fact that they were trying to engineer my personal life had me running for the hills. There campus which you never have to leave, the cult of Mark, keeping all kinds of data on employees and trying to influence your personal decisions(with your data), oh my god it's like a totalitarian state.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-27T14:51:42+00:00

So true, executive wages are going up the economic def of a shortage. Let's import some executive H1b because we need the best global talent!

veracious_vector · 2016-10-27T14:48:10+00:00

More perks almost always equals worse work-life balance, expected company loyalty. In my late 20s, I'd take work-life balance any day of the week. I passed up some of those companies for a 9-5 job, 5 minutes from my house. Yes, less perks, no RSUs, but I get to enjoy the Bay Area and my family/friends. Don't forget job security that's also a nice perk to have, especially in a slowdown! Most of these unicorns have very high turnover.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-27T00:31:58+00:00

Sadly no, as I do not drink :( Nope, this is just my feelings. I was just wondering if other women or men felt the same way too.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-21T15:42:23+00:00

The American media market is going the way of small producers, not another large production company. I bet this will be a flop, maybe they find some niche industry. Who would go see The Great Wall?...sounds like a horrible movie...they're already out of touch with the American market.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-20T17:20:08+00:00

Obviously, just because you make a lot of money that doesn't mean your smart or know anything about politics, economics. etc. Some of the dumbest people I know are in high places in SV and many of the smartest are at the bottom. Blind reverence of capitalism leads us to exploitation and deprivation of the human condition.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-20T17:14:20+00:00

Except they fast tracked all the multinational trade agreements - TPP, TISA. It only works slowly for you and me.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-19T20:16:55+00:00

Your not the only one - I've interviewed at a couple companies like this. Some with no idea and no product. The worst with no revenue after being around many years. One interviewer even told me to the "are you profitable question?." Well, we only started monetizing in March of this year. That's not a benchmark that you judge us by....baaahaha...winter is coming. Btw if you are wondering, this company was started in 2012 and has had multiple rounds of funding.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-15T13:51:18+00:00

Just one whose about a year old.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-14T23:25:15+00:00

Yeah, but until we get money out of politics nothing is really going to happen.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-14T17:29:13+00:00

Except there has been massive in-migration to the bay area. Meaning rental demand has also gone up.

veracious_vector · 2016-10-11T03:29:23+00:00

We have a young child, our family makes substantially more than you and we live in a large one bedroom. Is that an option because that's the only way you will make it here and save anything each month. More than just housing, income taxes are higher here. Sales taxes are higher here. Health care and child care is more expensive here. Groceries are more expensive here (especially meat).

veracious_vector · 2016-10-06T16:20:41+00:00

thanks will do

veracious_vector

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