twojobsoneboss

Is this really true? Been hearing the opposite, that everyone and anyone is using LC for interviewing now

So many more companies prefer hiring you all remote now, at the cost of local US remote workers

Happy for you all but again it’s come at the cost of local US remote workers… the chickens have come home to roost of the WFH movement

You must live outside the US. In the US If you’re only looking at expenses many full time jobs can get there in 3-6mos too. And not even big tech

Sure it’s nice to have the choice to not work between engagements but again you’ll be back to finding the next one

Easier if you’re a South American

Is work life balance really better when you have to worry bout finding your next gig and also that everything’s on you (don’t have a team/others to fall back on)?

I think it’s more that it’s much harder to build flexible high dexterity robots than it is to build pure software “intelligence”, that’s all.

Was mainly agreeing to your final point, no comment on the first :)

The problem is your profession and skill set being (roughly) your only means to a livelihood

Wait till that’s you. Have some empathy.

All over the news for awhile now, time to be contrarian and long GOOG (see META)

Have you looked at the sw Eng hiring landscape recently? One reason stocks are doing so well is cause of the cost cutting, layoffs, and hiring and promo freezes.

Stock prices have nothing to do with the employment landscape

You and your son are literally on opposite ends of the current economy. Tech is in possibly the worst recession since dotcom, while in-person services and retail pay is booming

So the pay situation you describe isn’t surprising at all

Remember: Good pay and stability comes not from how good you are, but by how profitable your employer is and how much they can leverage your output into profitability

That’s why rank and file at faang can pull down 300k+ TC

Do you think it’s gonna get better or is this the new norm?

I can’t help shake the feeling it’s the latter - rates might be higher for longer and tons of companies have jumped on the south-america/eastern-eu hiring bandwagon

Whatever it was, they really screwed it up for all of us. Parenting is so much harder than it needs to be and children are so much less balanced as a result. They share a big blame for the birth rate decline.

Europe is different than the US. Childhood is still much more healthy there

It’s tricky. I used to have a passion which was a small bootstrapped side business, then due to life circumstances I had to give up on that.

I found that getting more invested in my 9-5 and my coworkers made it easier to get through the day, cause if not, good god it would be hard.

But now oh don’t get too invested as a guard against getting laid off…

Like I said, it’s tricky.

I do agree on signing off latest at 5 unless absolutely needed to tho, you’re just punking yourself otherwise

Unfortunately you have to project substantial economic value to live a life of dignity (esp with a family) and so there’s no getting away from it with the current state of affairs

You can’t just “live a nourishing life”, you have to do both

If you’re at a FAANG, the point is to stash and save as much as possible as quickly as possible so you can escape being a slave

Dude, look out your window, most jobs/“careers” are like this and people just endure cause they have to

The “pay me so much” part is now going away too…

Or just get a stick pc that plugs in via hdmi

Just plug into a regular PC media center with a full browser and use an air mouse (Wii like thing) to control

Hey now, new framework makes your brain work

I thought he meant Scott Adams (Dilbert) and dare I say that would be more on point

Unfortunately there’s spare mental capacity in spades to go around

Reason #327 to support remote work

Do you see kids biking or running around on their own in the US now?

No?

We’ll then, there’s your answer

Adding more details:

YES, it is all-consuming. It was for me and probably for most. Obviously there are factors like grandparents help available etc, but unless you have a full time live-in maid like they have in Asia (au pairs don’t count cause they’re still 45hrs/week), there’s so many chores to do, on top of watching and entertaining the baby.

At first I tried to still do everything, but after some fights I realized I wasn’t being a good husband/father and progress was so slow on the business that it was probably not gonna make it anyway.

My current advice: If you have such unmet goals, assume that there’s a 90% chance you’ll have to give them up. Then make your decisions based on that. Which are you more willing to give up on? It could lead to very tough decisions eg splitting with your spouse, if it’s something you truly can’t see eye to eye on. Mostly if you wanna do both and still have a few childbearing years left get off your ass NOW and go for it, quit your job, whatever, it might be your last shot.

One other tidbit: with kids there’s no time to do things but there’s LOTS of time to THINK about things eg when watching them, doing dishes, etc. I would have 100x more time to think about what I could do with the business than I actually had to be on my laptop to do them. It was absolutely maddening.

EDIT to add: I do believe having kids is one of the most beautiful, fulfilling and noble acts most of us can do, and in fact for most people (who spend most of their free time on entertainment) it’s the right thing… but the sacrifice is far greater for some than others.

Tbf if you’re going to be quitting your 9-5 I don’t think it’s an issue. But no, I have not seen any _American_ examples of being a good dad + 9-5 + being a successful founder