| ▲ | toomuchtodo 3 hours ago |
| With all due respect, it's just a job, and we would do well to remember that. Chasing status and respect through work will lead to sadness (reality - expectations = happiness). I think we should buy people out with reasonable comp and let them live the rest of their life doing something that brings them joy and happiness, even if that's volunteering in what they used to get paid for. But I'm not a policymaker. A whole lot more of us are going to get involuntarily put out to pasture through no fault of our own eventually. 'I've applied for 300 jobs. My 25 years' experience is worthless' - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50182823 - October 2026 (111 comments) |
|
| ▲ | Angostura 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| I was a journalist in the old days. With all due respect it was mote than just a job. It was a community, a calling. It felt important. I went out to dinner with my first ever boss and some original colleagues a couple of months ago and had a great time. |
| |
| ▲ | cgannett 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I would say the problem is that it NOW is just a job... it used to be the fourth estate | |
| ▲ | breppp 44 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | It had an aura precisely because journalists were the arbitrators of truth, so denial of real information elevated it | |
| ▲ | jdkdkdmdmdmd 13 minutes ago | parent | prev [-] | | [dead] |
|
|
| ▲ | SkyeCA 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| >A whole lot more of us are going to get involuntarily put out to pasture through no fault of our own eventually. And that is going to have predictable consequences like increases in suicides, substance abuse, etc. A job might "just be a job" but I'm growing tired of this trend online of treating work like it isn't important for most people's sense of worth, place in society, and overall mental health. |
| |
|
| ▲ | xphos 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I think you should review your equation reality - expectations - uncertainy = happiness/saddness It might just be a job but someone living happy in good conditions that feels like the rug might get pulled under them for something they cannot control for is a lot more unerving even if your material conditions work out just fine in the end. Also I think your being a little atomizing in the impact here. 1 Person losing a job is their problem, I agree. 60 thousand people losing there job is a problem for the government and society. 60K people is a lot and it has a ton of consquences. This is also leading into the prospects of we have these massively profitable corportations who are on the cusp of firing large % of high income people. Whats the tax implication of losing 60K engineering staff level saleries. Its atleast in the billions which is small in the total Federal revenue but if this is a sign of whats to come we have problems. Maybe those people go to different employment but change will effect a lot of local economies. Granted I know you are really talking about the local emotional effect but the granular net effect is worth the conversation too. |
| |
| ▲ | riquito 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I like your comment but I think you're generalizing too a bit in a different way. It's 60k people spread in different countries, at least four. It is still a big problem, but it's not "the tax implication of losing 60k salaries" for a single government | |
| ▲ | exe34 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | > This is also leading into the prospects of we have these massively profitable corportations who are on the cusp of firing large % of high income people. Whats the tax implication of losing 60K engineering staff level saleries Muh job creators! You can't tax your way to growth! Well actually, they are now job destroyers. Tax the fuckers. | |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Equation comes from https://waitbutwhy.com/2013/09/why-generation-y-yuppies-are-... In the US, currently, ~4M Boomers retire a year, ~11k/day, ~2M people 55+ die every year, about half of which are in the labor force; that means ~13k-14k workers leave the labor force every day in the US, ~400k/month, ~4.8M/year. 60k workers leaving Microsoft is a drop in the bucket, relatively speaking. But of course, they should still get as much support as possible via the packages they accept, and getting to retirement (Social Security and Medicare benefits) as pain free and least uncertainty as possible. > Granted I know you are really talking about the local emotional effect but the granular net effect is worth the conversation too. I vote for and support Democratic Socialist candidates, who would implement and maintain more humane and pro worker economic systems, I'm doing my part at system levels. But systems will take decades to change. It took decades to get here from Ronald Reagan and his policies. Certainly, people should never be in economic peril, but they also shouldn't tie their identity to their job, or think their job matters. The evidence is robust that the job does not matter. (and if you think there is a problem with corporate earnings vs what workers take home, again, that is a political and labor organizing problem to solve for) St Louis Fed: US Wages Share of GDI at 75 Year Low - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50238884 - October 2026 Pew Research: Many Americans Are Struggling to Afford Basic Necessities - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50197020 - October 2026 Gallup: A majority of Americans have low-quality jobs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50195502 - October 2026 (i am once again asking to think in systems) | | |
| ▲ | ericmay 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | > In the US, currently, ~4M Boomers retire a year, ~11k/day, ~2M people 55+ die every year, about half of which are in the labor force; that means... Sure, from a raw numbers perspective it's a drop in the bucket. But not all numbers are created equal. How does the pay of these employees from Microsoft compare? You mention those of the baby boomer generation, but are all employees who may be leaving Microsoft of the same age range? What about their skillsets and the investments they and we as society of spent in their education? Those other factors matter quite a bit, so you can't just do a simple 1-1 analysis of "people". > Certainly, people should never be in economic peril, but they also shouldn't tie their identity to their job, or think their job matters. The evidence is robust that the job does not matter. Why? Which evidence? I think more people could have more meaning if they were self-employed, were craftsmen or artisans, and such, but this nihilistic viewpoint (which is a hallmark of anti-social/authoritarian ideologies like DSA and others) not only doesn't reflect reality but seeks to belittle those who do in fact find meaning and joy in their work. I for one like my job and have liked most of the jobs I've had. Just because an organization no longer needs you, or you no longer need it, doesn't mean that the job all of a sudden "doesn't matter". If people don't tie their identity to the thing they spend the most time doing what will they tie it to? Should a police officer or teacher not think of themselves through the lens of their chosen profession? When you ask a professor at your university do you want to work with one who doesn't tie themselves to their work or their research? Would you want to buy produce from a farmer who sort of doesn't care about the quality of the food they grow? Do you want to fly on an airplane built by people who think their job doesn't matter? | | |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | If the org can operate without you in the role, or without the role itself, the job does not matter. The human always matters, the job does not. > If people don't tie their identity to the thing they spend the most time doing what will they tie it to? Should a police officer or teacher not think of themselves through the lens of their chosen profession? When you ask a professor at your university do you want to work with one who doesn't tie themselves to their work or their research? Would you want to buy produce from a farmer who sort of doesn't care about the quality of the food they grow? Do you want to fly on an airplane built by people who think their job doesn't matter? Finding meaning in the human condition and experience I suppose. Is that in your job? I argue no, but everyone will find meaning in their own way, if they find it before death. If it is your job, and you are involuntarily retired, my condolences. I fly on Boeing equipment occasionally (not my choice), so I definitely fly on airplanes built by companies who think building good aircraft doesn't matter. I'm sure some people at Boeing care, but not enough to overcome institutional inertia of "bean counter idgaf". Society, broadly speaking, runs on everyone doing just good enough in the aggregate to keep the system running. Some systems are better than others (Japan institutionalizing perfectionism, for example). | | |
| ▲ | ericmay 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | > If the org can operate without you in the role, or without the role itself, the job does not matter. The human always matters, the job does not. Blueberries grow in the wild, ergo farmers don't matter. > Finding meaning in the human condition and experience I suppose. Is that in your job? I argue no, but everyone will find meaning in their own way, if they find it before death. So why are you prematurely defining what meaning should be for everyone? That's one of the problems with these authoritarian ideologies. > I fly on Boeing equipment occasionally (not my choice), so I definitely fly on airplanes built by companies who think building good aircraft doesn't matter. I'm sure some people at Boeing care, but not enough to overcome institutional inertia of "bean counter idgaf". I don't understand this at all. Clearly they care a lot or else these planes would be crashing and stuff. If you think they don't care and you're saying flying on the aircraft sucks because they don't care, then maybe they should care more about their jobs and then it would be a better experience, which sort of runs counter to your thesis here. |
|
|
|
|
|
| ▲ | bevr1337 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Local journalism _feels_ like more than a job. Before my CS career, I was a photojournalist for a few different daily papers. It felt like important work. We were history keepers and story tellers for a community. |
| |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | It is important work, but we have yet to find an economic model to effectively support it and the people doing the work. (i donate to journalism orgs across the US [ProPublica, Associated Press, Tampa Bay Times, Salt Lake Tribune, Marion County Record, Muckrock], but far more and consistent financial support is needed than these orgs are receiving today) | | |
| ▲ | GolfPopper 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | >It is important work, but we have yet to find an economic model to effectively support it and the people doing the work. We had an economic model that supported both the people and the work; the current economic model supports neither. I would submit that this one of a great many reasons why the current economic model is problematic. |
|
|
|
| ▲ | user_7832 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I agree that it's a job, but.. for most of humanity, people lived and worked in the same spaces with the same humans. The home was a unit of (pre) industrial production. Your neighbours were your partners, or at least involved in general economic activities with you. Our human brains unsurprisingly still default to that, and it is quite understandable imo. |
|
| ▲ | advael 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I tend to agree with the idea that one shouldn't define oneself by a job, especially since one's career is generally dependent on some combination of market forces, institutional gatekeepers, and other factors that are beyond one's control to varying degrees. However, people do tend to put that kind of personal investment into things they spend most of their time on, and especially things they had to spend a long time training for. In order to realize a world where people aren't defined by their career, we would need to first realize a world in which people weren't equal parts encouraged and forced to put most of their time and effort into one, which would require somewhat different economic arrangements than presently exist |
|
| ▲ | exe34 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Hah I know a professor that retired and never stopped working on his projects. He just stopped handling paperwork at the university. |
| |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 19 minutes ago | parent [-] | | The dream, when possible: to continue to perform work one enjoys without an economic requirement or component. It would be great if we could do this for more people, whenever possible, via systems. |
|
|
| ▲ | sixothree 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > it's just a job Considering what you're responding to, it sounds like you're suggesting people over 55 don't deserve to be respected or have a good position in life. |
| |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | > I think we should buy people out with reasonable comp and let them live the rest of their life doing something that brings them joy and happiness, even if that's volunteering in what they used to get paid for. But I'm not a policymaker. Respect is how you feel, a good position in life is a function of your retirement benefits and financial comfort. If the market has no place for these folks anymore, and we're not offering a permanent jobs bank to keep people working who want to work (which I absolutely think we should do), "it is what it is." Sorry if they feel bad about market changes and demand for certain skills and labor. We show respect by packaging folks out to live comfortable remainders of their life. "Thank you for your contribution and service." Lack of respect is leaving them hanging in the wind financially, not words. If you need a job to feel needed and respected after entering retirement and with sufficient financial and retiree benefits support, we'll throw a standing appointment with a therapist into the package and/or a volunteer opportunity online board/bank. If you're looking for validation from your job or your work as a component of your identity, you're going to end up sad. That's a choice. Make better choices if you don't want to be sad. | | |
| ▲ | IAmBroom an hour ago | parent [-] | | Either every doctor, nurse, firefighter, teacher, FBI agent, reverend, and social worker I know is wrong, or you are. |
|
|
|
| ▲ | IAmBroom an hour ago | parent | prev [-] |
| With all due respect, you're a kid, and not very knowledgeable about the world of careers that differ from yours. Now, go code something nice. |
| |
