Yet somehow, Facebook still managed to transfer an eye watering $50bn to capitalists in 2025 through dividends and buybacks. That is the equivalent of $633,639/employee. Tech workers need to unionize!
It’s kind of sad in hindsight. I remember around 8-10 years ago or so a conversation about unionization amongst programmers came up and almost universally the response was “lol why would I ever unionize? Just hop companies.”
The AI is too expensive, and technical debt it generates will cause the AI bubble some strain, and if that goes, software development will be stronger for a while. At least on the senior level.
Tech workers are labor aristocracy, so collaboration with capitalists is rampant. Even here on Lemmy, in the tech comms you will find a higher than average rate of capitalist apologism.
But as the market adjusts they will be exploited just like the rest of workforce. This was already the case with some sectors, like videogames, which were more exploited than others. When there is a hefty supply of workers and a stable 5% unemployed, ready to accept any conditions, those $200k+ incomes will be a distant memory.
Yet somehow, Facebook still managed to transfer an eye watering $50bn to capitalists in 2025 through dividends and buybacks. That is the equivalent of $633,639/employee. Tech workers need to unionize!
It’s kind of sad in hindsight. I remember around 8-10 years ago or so a conversation about unionization amongst programmers came up and almost universally the response was “lol why would I ever unionize? Just hop companies.”
Welp.
It was always stupid do dismiss unions.
The software engineering was in a stupid bubble just waiting to be popped.
But no one cared, since they got paid so much.
AI was the bubble bursting.
So far it’s not looking like it is.
The AI is too expensive, and technical debt it generates will cause the AI bubble some strain, and if that goes, software development will be stronger for a while. At least on the senior level.
Tech workers are labor aristocracy, so collaboration with capitalists is rampant. Even here on Lemmy, in the tech comms you will find a higher than average rate of capitalist apologism.
But as the market adjusts they will be exploited just like the rest of workforce. This was already the case with some sectors, like videogames, which were more exploited than others. When there is a hefty supply of workers and a stable 5% unemployed, ready to accept any conditions, those $200k+ incomes will be a distant memory.
they are also pay very high enough to not unionize,