Money Hoarders and Fat Cats?

[Chuckanut]

Some people are hard working and deserve the rewards they get.

Others are "mad, bad and dangerous to know".

We admire people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk who built very successful organizations that brought prosperity to many others.
OTOH, who admires the guys who lobbied Congress to give cable companies monopolies in their service area.?

 

[MooreBonds]

We admire people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk who built very successful organizations that brought prosperity to many others.
OTOH, who admires the guys who lobbied Congress to give cable companies monopolies in their service area.?

Sometimes, the only difference between Jobs/Musk and some of the "bad guys" is in the indirect positive PR from their products.

Jobs and Musk make "cool" products. That gives them a pass. It doesn't matter that Jobs refused to repatriate cash back to US shores to avoid paying taxes to the gov't, or offshored production to maximize profits in the environmental wasteland of Chinese manufacturing. And who cares if Musk is shopping around his new facility to maximize the whoring out that states are doing through kickbacks and income/property tax freebies to get him to build his plant in their state. He makes a "green" car (if you ignore various environmental negatives of electric cars).

But if another CEO did that? Round up the ropes and lynching squads! They're just greedy bastards.

 

[Chuckanut]

Sometimes, the only difference between Jobs/Musk and some of the "bad guys" is in the indirect positive PR from their products.

Jobs and Musk make "cool" products. That gives them a pass. It doesn't matter that Jobs refused to repatriate cash back to US shores to avoid paying taxes to the gov't, or offshored production to maximize profits in the environmental wasteland of Chinese manufacturing. And who cares if Musk is shopping around his new facility to maximize the whoring out that states are doing through kickbacks and income/property tax freebies to get him to build his plant in their state. He makes a "green" car (if you ignore various environmental negatives of electric cars).

But if another CEO did that? Round up the ropes and lynching squads! They're just greedy bastards.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[rodi]

+1 I find that many people with "normal" mid-level jobs tend to resent high income workers without understanding the hours and stresses that go along with many high income jobs (long workdays, weekend work, on call 24/7, high pressure deadlines, etc). They resent the higher income others earn but if they were told that they needed to work till 3 am or pull an all-nighter to meet an important business deadline they would have a fit and probably refuse to stay. They also don't appreciate the lack of job security of many high income jobs - you can be gone with the snap of a finger for no particular reason at all compared to the due process associated with mid level employees.

Hmmm. I think many mid-level workers ARE asked to meet extreme deadlines, work all-nighters, weekends, etc... and are laid off with a much reduced severance (say 4 weeks total), while the VPs that set the extreme deadlines might also be laid off - but with packages that are worth several years of the high salary.

All non-union employees are at risk of termination at the snap of a finger. But the compensation as you're walked out the door tends to be very disproportionate. I'm not sure what due process you're talking about - I'm talking about layoffs after projects are cancelled.... that effect everyone. No due-process... just pink slips for the workers, and parachutes for the upper management.

 

[robnplunder]

Hmmm. I think many mid-level workers ARE asked to meet extreme deadlines, work all-nighters, weekends, etc... and are laid off with a much reduced severance (say 4 weeks total), while the VPs that set the extreme deadlines might also be laid off - but with packages that are worth several years of the high salary.

All non-union employees are at risk of termination at the snap of a finger. But the compensation as you're walked out the door tends to be very disproportionate. I'm not sure what due process you're talking about - I'm talking about layoffs after projects are cancelled.... that effect everyone. No due-process... just pink slips for the workers, and parachutes for the upper management.

I think pb4uski and you may be talking about apples and oranges. Here in Sillycon Belly, what you describe above is exactly what has been happening for years. Perhaps, pb4uski can clarify his position.

 

[foxfirev5]

With all the comments and stories above it's easy to see it's not a worker friendly environment out there. I think most on this forum are an exception and realized this long ago. It's up to each of us to cut our own path and deal with it . It really doesn't matter if we're an employee, small business owner, VP or fat cat.

 

[photoguy]

Hmmm. I think many mid-level workers ARE asked to meet extreme deadlines, work all-nighters, weekends, etc...

This is basically what life is like for many workers (at all levels) in consulting firms. At one place I know it was not possible for a worker to meet their utilization (billing) hours and take their earned vacation without working substantial overtime. The same place is often described as a "pyramid scheme".

 

[CaliforniaMan]

With all the comments and stories above it's easy to see it's not a worker friendly environment out there. I think most on this forum are an exception and realized this long ago. It's up to each of us to cut our own path and deal with it . It really doesn't matter if we're an employee, small business owner, VP or fat cat.

+1 Very good point!
Products and industries come and go, sought after skills vary with time, we all have intrinsic value only to ourselves, our God, and with luck to our families. It is partly why I decided to leave my programming job and strike out on my own as an independent consultant over 30 years ago. Even though I was offered employment many times by my clients, I always found a way to gracefully decline. Everyone has to approach life differently, but in the end have to realize that we are really on our own. I often thought about how much more stability I had as a consultant, with no "guaranteed" income than were all the salaried folks who "felt" safe, but in reality were not. At least it forced me to realize that I was on my own, as we all are anyway.

 

[Teacher Terry]

You are right about pensions being worth a ton of $. Both my hubby & I have small ones & if we live 25 years in retirement it is worth a million. Much more if we live to be a lot older.

 

[ERhoosier]

Sometimes, the only difference between Jobs/Musk and some of the "bad guys" is in the indirect positive PR from their products.

Jobs and Musk make "cool" products. That gives them a pass. It doesn't matter that Jobs refused to repatriate cash back to US shores to avoid paying taxes to the gov't, or offshored production to maximize profits in the environmental wasteland of Chinese manufacturing. And who cares if Musk is shopping around his new facility to maximize the whoring out that states are doing through kickbacks and income/property tax freebies to get him to build his plant in their state. He makes a "green" car (if you ignore various environmental negatives of electric cars).

But if another CEO did that? Round up the ropes and lynching squads! They're just greedy bastards.

And that's why Wall Street PR can be such a lucrative business- those greedy b@stards