The harder I work the less I'm paid

[email protected]

I mean, yeah, that's the American dream. I get six figures and work like maybe 3 hours a day on a busy day. When I was 16 I was washing dishes for $5 an hour and it was 8+ hours of constant, hard work, every fucking day

[email protected]

I’d argue that the skills required to work in the videogame industry are easily repurposed for other IT or creative jobs.

I know dozens of people who've been looking for over a year, for anything in the software field. The issue is companies would rather hire a kid straight out of school than pay for someone with experience. I'm in a discord channel of people (from the last place I worked at that has now gone bankrupt) and the vast majority are still without a job. Most are going outside the industry into the standbys (food service, warehouse, etc). My linkedin was so depressing, post after post about people who used to be engineers I worked with now getting hurt working in Amazon Fulfillmment centres, I just stopped going there and use discord/indeed for job searching. I'm really close with the QA team from my last job, and all but one of them have moved back in with their parents.

It is fucking bleak in software right now.

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has more than 130,000 job cuts across 457 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether.

Not sure where people think everyone is going to go; there are more closures than job openings.

[email protected]

"Act your wage" is just a poor excuse to normalize laziness.

You have to leave some in the tank. It's real easy to breeze into work 20 minutes late with no consequences, sit in an air conditioned office while sitting around shooting the shit for 5/8 hours pretending to be in a meeting, send some emails and go home.

Working for 8+ hours straight on your feet is a different story. You still have to go home and perform domestic tasks like cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, yard work, kids. There's also a good chance you will have mandatory overtime on certain industries.

Not only that, but work smarter, not harder.

[email protected]

Oh boy. That's what I like to see after a year unemployed from software.

sunzu2

Yeah but in order to get a job like that your either need to be a nepo baby or you actually need to have a skill that is in demand enough to where it is cheaper to keep you around despite not squeezimg every minute of work.

And only way to get there is to spend some serious time on studying and working hard.

[email protected]

I wish you the best, I'm looking outside software in general. I used to offer to help people find employment in games but now I just can't. I've seen too many people broken by it.

I do hope you find something, anything, so you can continue to survive.

TheDonkerZ

Even then, you need to have 10+ years of workplace experience coming out of school. The standards have been lifted to nearly unattainable heights for things that people with less qualifications would've gotten 30 years ago.

[email protected]

Sixteen Tons. Another day older and deeper in debt.

GHiLA

Maybe he installs showers for a living.

[email protected]

Yeah, I was adjacent to the game industry for a minute and am aware of how much churn business execs force on developers. Good luck yourself in your search

2ugly2live

I make the most I've ever made in my adult life and I am doing the least I've ever done in my adult life. Checks out.

[email protected]

Funny, a variation of this song came on my Pandora station immediately after I read this comment.

Queen HawlSera

Sometimes I think about American Beauty. I love that film, but I always have to warn people that it's the "Best movie that aged horribly."

(I mean except for the films like Dazed and Confused which were intended to be contemporary, but are so of their time that they accidentally made a period piece)

There's just so many reasons why it doesn't line up with reality. (First time I saw it I laughed at the idea of "secret government weed" in a film that wasn't a stoner comedy, and the fact that they cast a busty actress for the girl who wants a boobjob and a not-so-busty one for the one who doesn't.. Which I guess could work as commentary, but the way the movie plays it not so much.), but two that really stand out

Kevin Spacey playing a man who not-so-secretly longs for his (teenage) daughter's (underage) friend in a lustful manner
::: spoiler spoiler
and is finally able to court her near the climax of the film. (To be fair, he realizes what he's doing is wrong and doesn't go through with it)
:::
At one point, after realizing he isn't happy working hard for an American Dream he has grown bored of quits his job. This is fresh on the heels of the realization that he can maintain his lifestyle (Suburban house, husband and wife have their own car, only one member of the household works) by working a stress-free no responsibility job as a McDonalds Fry Cook.

Honestly the second one is far more shocking and offensive.

Queen HawlSera

Heck I'm just the janitor for a wealthy company and for the first time it's a gig where I don't hate everyone and everything because of my job.

I still hate everyone and everything, but that has more to do with my pay than the work involved.

[email protected]

Yeah he does good stuff

[email protected]

reference for those who don't know

[email protected]

<And only way to get there is to spend some serious time on studying and working hard.

Naw, you just need a skill that's in high demand with low amount of qualified or interested individuals. You had it right in the first half. I make decent money and learned everything on the job. I was just willing to do boring data and implementation work that others seem to shy away from.

[email protected]

Just start one of these ai Saas companies that market to small units of government and hire some sales people who will promise the world. Eventually your service will just be forgotten about, bit they'll still continue paying the monthly fees.

qaz

What do you do? (You don't need to be specific)