Modern Day Sweatshop
Below describes the working conditions of a sweatshop according to Wikipedia.
“crowded, dangerous, low-paying, and without job security…”
I’d also like to add long hours and shitty benefits to this list.
Sounds familiar?
It should. I’m finding out that this is the working conditions of many developers. Yet, we take it like there’s nothing wrong with it. Why?
First of all, we’ve been brain-washed by the success stories of successful tech entrepreneurs bragging about working under these conditions. I don’t think I ever heard any of them actually talking about having a balanced life. If you really think about it, aren’t these people also the employers of developers? Do you think they have a financial incentive?
Another great bullshit I’ve heard is that developers get paid lot more than others. Well, if you take the amount and divide by the hours we’re forced to work, then you’ll know that we’re actually making less than others. I’ve also heard some grumble about consultant’s hourly rate. Well, if you think about it, there’s no sick days nor vacation days. How about the cost of health insurance and other overheads? I know, I did the calculations.
You must be thinking that I’m describing the working environment at a start-up. Not so. For some stupid reasons, people at well-established companies also think that they can treat “techies” like crap. It’s fascinating that we’re de-humanized, and therefore we don’t have human needs.
This has to change and it has to start from the top.
One thing I’m really proud is that when I was a CTO, I did not run a sweatshop operation. I made sure the working environment is a friendly one and made sure people are treated with dignity. I made sure they’re not overworked and always available for their family. Sure, there were times where we had to work crazy hours for few days, but they were far and few in between. I also made sure that a death march is a shameful event. It means we didn’t do a great job of planning and it’s a total collapse of expectation management.
So, next time you hear a developer bragging about how much he works, tell him that he’s working at a modern day sweatshop and should really shut the fuck up.
