Comment by toiletaccount | Hacker News Reader

Comment by toiletaccount | Hacker News Reader

Covid was just the finger on the trigger for the whole world's loaded footgun. Excessive interdependency and each new generation of the managerial class keeping things lean to look good on paper has landed everything up shit creek. Idle hands were justifying paychecks.

I've seen companies go from doing everything in house to outsourcing everything. It was ugly before covid, but now it might be sinking the ship. They used to retain the necessary talent, keep a stock of necessary $THING, and get things done on time and on budget. Now the MBA's see a way to cut costs on paper but it all ends up late and over budget. On to the next ship for them after this top heavy piece of shit sinks.

I'm sure there's a careful business calculus for not bringing people up from the bottom but goddamnit I used to see results, and happier coworkers.

> I'm sure there's a careful business calculus for not bringing people up from the bottom

Not defending the practice (it's always seemed a no-brainer to me that investing in your team is better in the long run than to outsource) but I think I see the logic. Outsourcing, like renting equipment, lets you scale faster with less capital and reduces your exposure to sudden downturns in sales. It's a superior strategy if you have only an extremely limited ability to predict your market (whether because your market is highly volatile, or because you're bad at forecasting.)

Back when we used to see those results and happier co-workers, it was accepted that it would take 10-20 years to properly establish and build a business. There was none of this crazy pressure to gravely over-extend from day 1 in an attempt to unicorn out before you turn 40.

Why say Covid and not lockdowns?

Like it or not, Covid didn’t prevent the workers from going to work. Government mandates did.

I’m not going to expose myself to a 1% chance of dying for your profits. None of us owe you a profit.

Not just death. If you have severe illness but survive, you're likely to have continued health problems for life. And even if it doesn't hit you, you might bring it home to someone you care about.

The death toll and consequences of widespread long covid (and consequences of much more rapid mutation and the collapse of the medical system) would have caused significantly more economic damage than the lockdowns.

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