Voldemort looks in the mirror
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tuxchick Jul 07, 2012 7:24 PM EDT |
And freaks out...it's always been dog-eat-dog. And they're just now noticing? |
| montezuma Jul 07, 2012 9:25 PM EDT |
The picture accompanying the article is of Ballmer: Bald, overweight and in an appalling red sweater. It was accidentally labelled "Former Microsoft exec" . He should have been sacked 3 years ago. M$ are dead in the water now. |
| cr Jul 07, 2012 9:28 PM EDT |
This isn't a Voldemort moment so much as a Fudge and Umbridge (and Hopkirk, and...) moment IMO. You'll notice that it's a former Ministry^WMicrosoft exec who did the noticing; those who're still in the game are effectively paid not to notice, and not to listen when somebody (briefly) talks about it. Maybe it'll take a Voldemort to tear the whole thing open; too bad Elop is too caught up just now in causing Nokia to implode so as to free up their patent portfolio. |
| helios Jul 08, 2012 12:45 AM EDT |
If you read the article from VF, then go get a beverage, get comfortable, and start reading the comments. There are reflections from former employees, contractors and even spouses that shine more light on the MS dynasty/work environment than the actual article. You know....I think we've all had one job in our lives that we, without hesitation, offer as "The Worst Job I've Ever Had". Graduating at the first semester of my senior year, I took a job to waste time until I was 18 and able to join the Army. It's a generational thing in my family....the oldest boy from each does his tour, some of us did a career. My oldest Son is a Captain and pilot in the USAF. He flies the C130 gunship. Sorry...I wandered a bit there. My "worst job" was on a beef slaughterhouse kill floor. STOP NOW if you are squeamish. My job was to stand beside a steel conveyor belt and when the head of a steer, (just the head mind you...) came to my station, I used a sleever bar to break the jaw, and then with what amounted to a triple-sized scalpel, I cut the tongue from the cavity. If the tongue was of even color and texture, I was to throw it in the "A" brine tub. If it was speckled or mis-shaped, it went into the "B" brine tub and began it's ultimate journey to becoming hot dogs or dog food. One day, I was in the lunch room with some of my co-workers, mouthing the obligatory "I hate my job" stories but noticed the new guy didn't have anything to say. When I asked him how much he hated doing this, his reply was simple. "It beats being an IBM Program Manager". He then went on to talk about surprisingly identical work situations as we read in the VF piece. Mind you, this was in 1971. I guess some things never change. How bad does a work environment have to be that cutting tongues from dead cows ranks above a "tech job"? Two years ago, I turned down an interview opportunity with Google. While there were many reasons I ultimately turned it down, I can't deny that ghost of a Program Manager telling that his job in IT was pure h3!!. Not that it was anywhere in the conscious decision-making process, but I thought of it none the less. |
| jhansonxi Jul 08, 2012 1:25 AM EDT |
I did a stint in a Windows-based corporate IT environment and my favorite moment was when I was terminated (it probably saved many lives also). I've met many other former IT pros who feel the same way. A few of those who stick with it tend to be the very highly skilled and employed in businesses that value such wisdom. But most are apathetic slackers who know just enough to not be fired for incompetence and are working in businesses that are so mismanaged that nobody notices them. One would think that IT fools in other businesses wouldn't have an impact on the pros. But they set the standard for skill vs. salary which depresses the apparent value of everyone else in the field (and outsourcing doesn't help). When the people making hiring decisions have no clue about technology, cheap fools carrying nearly useless industry certifications get the jobs because anyone with a clue is too expensive. However, I'm still tempted to get back into corporate IT now that I've found better tools... |
| Fettoosh Jul 08, 2012 9:15 AM EDT |
Quoting:And freaks out...it's always been dog-eat-dog. And they're just now noticing? Exactly. The article puts too much emphasis on MS culture, but MS hasn't changed its ways and means, internally or externally, since it was started. Initially, it succeeded enormously but now it is declining because in its earlier years, MS was successful no matter what they did. It had no competition and used its monopoly power and resources to keep itself the only game in town for too long. Now we have a different situation. The competitions that FOSS has created or helped in creating couldn't be killed, are steadily increasing, and are progressing to maturity. That is what is making the big difference and not the MS culture alone. |
| helios Jul 08, 2012 12:12 PM EDT |
"But they set the standard for skill vs. salary which depresses the apparent value of everyone else in the field." When the housing bubble burst in 2008 here in Austin and everyone woke up to the realization that the economy was in real trouble, the jobs market also did it's part by going to h3!! too. Many of my friends who lost their jobs began applying to various tech companies and found that those tech jobs working in the Admin field or coding no longer started at 48K. Now they were being offered the same jobs at what amounted to about 12.00 dollars an hour. Many times that was a 1099 position with no benefits what so ever. A good friend of mine who took a job as an entry-level coder had to take a second job just to pay his mortgage. I won't mention their names but their initials are HostGator....they were the worst. Now, you travel around Austin and the surrounding area and you can't help but run into huge billboards that read: Know Linux? Come work for us! Even though salaries and benefit packages have returned to sane levels, it's the desperate Admin that accepts a job at HostGator. While the money did get better, the boiler-room atmosphere did not. A very good friend of mine (blog about his experience is in the works) quit a 60K job in IT to work as a diesel mechanic, Driving his decision mirrored much of the same as discussed in the VF piece. He has also mentioned many times that if he was still there, some employee enduser would probably be drawing disability or worse. "when I was terminated (it probably saved many lives also)." He's happier now, and acts as if he's had the weight of the world taken from his shoulders. I wonder how many of us wish we had the luxury of jumping from one good paying job into another that had none of the same pressures. |
| Bob_Robertson Jul 09, 2012 12:34 PM EDT |
"I wonder how many of us wish we had the luxury of jumping from one good paying job into another that had none of the same pressures." The malinvestment that causes bubbles and busts is not limited to wheat futures or realestate. Useless degrees and the misallocation of labor are just as much a part of those material wastes as any other. Individuals are not fungible. Not every job can be done equally by every person, and the "efficiency" of a particular job is not just measured by the money one person makes doing it. No matter how painful it is for an individual, "repurposing" is a fact of life. Expecting any particular person to get paid any particular amount for any particular task is just not going to happen. It sucks when it's you. It certainly has sucked when it was me, and it will suck when it happens again. Lucky I'm a decent mechanic. |
| jdixon Jul 09, 2012 12:45 PM EDT |
> Individuals are not fungible. Something which is both intuitively obvious and that businesses have been doing their best to insist isn't the case my entire working career. |
| caitlyn Jul 09, 2012 11:02 PM EDT |
Quoting:I won't mention their names but their initials are HostGator....they were the worst. Now, you travel around Austin and the surrounding area and you can't help but run into huge billboards that read:They even have billboards on I-40 and I-85 in North Carolina. I've seen their online ads. They want every skill imaginable with lots of years experience and they sure don't want to pay much for those skills. No wonder they still have so many openings. Next, they'll complain there aren't enough Americans available to fill those jobs and apply for more H1B visas to bring in cheaper help from India. |
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