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Comment by ohyes | Hacker News Reader

In reality, if he can get a 30% pay raise elsewhere, he should take it. It's not about punishing anyone, it's about compensation. Part of his compensation is flexible work hours. Another part is money/benefits. If his manager came in and said 'we're going to pay you 12-24% less for your time' it would be just as much of an issue.

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It's not about punishing anyone, it's about compensation.

Not so. Compensation is important if funding is available, but many devs love what they do and the service they're providing, beyond monetary compensation.

Indeed, it's called 'compensation' for a reason: it compensates for the time spent doing what you'd prefer not to. If you do what you love, nothing to compensate for :)

It's a compensation for opportunity cost. Even if it may be really fun to build things that make others rich I'll still need food, a roof, and healthcare.

Bluntly, that attitude is incredibly naive and, in the extreme, obsequious.

I have a passion for doing a great many things. I believe I should be compensated for expending time--literally quantums of my very life--if employed in the service of another. These two things aren't mutually exclusive.

I love my work. I do not believe it is a good reason to pay me less and pocket the difference. The chances are that I will love work in other company too.

I'm not suggesting that they pay you less and pocket the difference; if it was bad, that would be reason alone to leave. Instead I'm suggesting that there are reasons to stay at one job instead of automatically changing to another, better paying one, and that people are not being foolish by remaining at the lower-paying one. This happens all the time when people are working on a startup, for example.

I like what I do too, but I'm not some ephemeral being, I have material needs. Anyway, It's always about compensation, environment and camaraderie is part of compensation.

If it weren't about compensation I would work on my own stuff or open source.

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