Am I crazy to quit a FANG job for ethical reasons? | Hacker News Reader

Am I crazy to quit a FANG job for ethical reasons?

10 pointsthrow503847away5 comments

Hi all -

I really respect this community so posting this here since my real life community consists of either others working at the same FANG (who do not give this much thought) or friends who would take a job at the FANG (or others) given the chance.

Like all FANGs, the company I work for is doing some deeply unethical work which I can't stop thinking about.

Being specific I am disturbed at the idea that the work being produced is being productionized and sold to defence companies and nation states that will almost definitely use the infrastructure being sold to further military objectives of organizations that are quite likely to be engaging in war crimes.

I've been extremely distracted at work and disturbed to the point that I've disengaged, my productivity has decreased greatly and I'm applying / interviewing elsewhere with plans to quit (although my boss still thinks I'm doing an ok job).

Looking at the other major consumer technology companies, I see they're also engaging in similar behavior with either cloud offerings, social networks or production practices that I no longer think I can engage with because of the huge human / social costs involved.

This job is the best paying job I've ever had and I'm wondering whether I'm just not thinking clearly here / should ignore these feeling and continue employment since it's likely I'd find most other business morally objectionable, its very hard to get jobs at these companies and I'm not really in a decision making capacity here / just a standard worker.

Looking for some perspective here, please share stories of leaving (or staying at) a job you found morally objectionable, what you did after and whether you lived to regret it or if it was a good decision.

Thanks

We seen to have forgotten: "The word engineer was initially used in the context of warfare, dating back to 1325..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_engineering

Not much has changed in 700 years.

Returning to your ethical dilemma, or is it really about money, status, prestige of working at a FAANG? In our society, essential workers are paid the least. There are people who are driven by ethical concerns to live austere lives whilst working in what they consider to be essential charities.

Only you can decide where on the spectrum of earning capacity and thus lifestyle you choose to be. Your mental health is more important than being able to buy some shiny new trinket. Perhaps you could look at what areas are compatible with your ethical standards and then evaluate whether you can earn enough in those areas to meet your needs. If you choose more money over less ethics, then at least you have made a conscious decision and not being swayed by the opinions of others.

Personally, I think you are very sane for considering leaving FANG for ethical reasons. Of course, in our economic system, there isn't any fully ethical way to participate at all. But in my opinion, there are other good jobs that pay well that are overall less harmful.

Only you can decide where your moral compass points, and how far you're prepared to go in an opposing direction for wealth and/or fame.

I think most people will feel better working in a position that is aligned with their values, but a lot of people can also tolerate/justify a surprising amount of cognitive dissonance in aid of supporting themselves and their families.

Whether it's convincing oneself that one's work will only be used militarily against baddies that deserve it, that the people one is putting out of work with automation/AI will fall on their feet into much better jobs, or that manipulating people into spending more time in one's app is actually a public service because the app itself does some good, people will find ways of compartmentalising and living with what they do since the alternative of having a family less well provided for is seen as the bigger failure. "Suck it up princess and get on with it, you can't bear the weight of the whole world on your shoulders, and you've got kids who need to go to college"...

My main advice would be to try not to stray so far from your moral compass that you can no longer recognise yourself. No amount of therapy or donating to charity is going to fix you at that point.

I'm really glad there are people like yourself out there, asking questions like these. I wish more were like you, and I wish you good luck and happiness whatever you choose to do.

You may be interested in the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (1973).

I honestly think that perhaps what stage of your career greatly influences these types of decisions. I have been in the industry since the ‘90’s, way before FAANG and “big tech” arrived to the scene. Once they did I never understood why everyone seemed to flock to these jobs. Of course it is money stupid I said to myself but there is lots of money to be made elsewhere.

If we are after money alone I honestly never understood yet again why big tech - in my career I figured that the absolute best way to have a prosperous career (and make a shitton of money along the way) is to get to the point where you are more valuable to the company than company is to you. I ballpark there are 10 such employees at each big tech while I ballpark there is at least 1 (or few) and most if not all not-big-tech. And there are A LOT of not-big-tech companies and you don’t have to spend months/years… to prepare for some BS interview or do some silly shit on leetcode or whatever. Find a company that has been in the business for a long time and has good books (my decision on whether to pursue a job at a given company are largely based on two things - would I invest money in the company and whether or not I think what they do is meaningful (I interned at Monsanto while in college and cannot ever forgive myself for that - since then what company does is more important than what my compensation is).

Once you land a job slowly start looking at things everyone else stays away from - that will always be the case. It’ll be something “some dude wrote - you shouldn’t touch it, no one knows how it works” … well except you, you badass will figure it out (better months spent than doing leetcode crap that is the biggest waste of time imaginable) and then after some time it is you, YOU are that gal/guy without whom nothing gets done, no fires get put out swiftly etc…

I would never work for FAANG or big tech - first and foremost for the reasons you are pondering as well as additional reasons where I just can’t see ANY reason except money for someone to work there and there is money elsewhere…

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