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128 Comments
- inactive, on 07/13/2009, -0/+53Terrible. No one should have to work for free. Yes, it's nice if people do charity work - but if someone else is profiting from your work and you're not being compensated - STOP WORKING IMMEDIATELY. Chances are you're just being taken advantage of.
- Gerakis100, on 07/13/2009, -4/+55bad
- rtrac3y, on 07/13/2009, -2/+33Bailouts, writedowns, and now free labor -- It's a CEO's dream!
- TreatsTheBear, on 07/13/2009, -0/+22I thought working for free was called "volunteering." Also, I seem to remember people used to do it for a good cause, not for a for-profit company.
That's called an internship. - eastwood24, on 07/13/2009, -2/+19Spent about 5 months last year trying to seek employment. Currently have several friends in the same position. It's a very stressful experience. In my opinion, whatever 'good' there may be, it's easily outweighed by the 'bad' of having no income.
- VinnieDaMac, on 07/13/2009, -0/+16It's desperation. If a boss asks you to work for free for a month and you say yes, it's not because you're dedicated, it's because if you say no, you're fired. If you volunteer to work for free somewhere, you're doing it because you want experience to help you find a paying job or you hope that a paying job will open up where you volunteered at.
- richmomz, on 07/13/2009, -2/+18When you're a fresh college graduate but all the potential employers want 2+ years of experience... you do what you gotta do to get your foot in the door, or you work at Burger King. It's that simple.
- inactive, on 07/13/2009, -3/+19Working for free AKA just like slavery but without the free room and board.
- costumemaker, on 07/13/2009, -0/+16The other thing is that this drives down the price of labor. When companies see that they can get people to work for them for free or next to nothing, then it can force people who were legitimately working for money to end up taking pay cuts out of fear that they will can you and hire someone else in your place for less pay.
This is just no good for the middle class no matter how you slice it. - hydroplane, on 07/13/2009, -0/+15Mr. Lumbergh told me to talk to payroll and payroll told me to talk to Mr. Lumbergh and I still have not received my paycheck and they moved my desk to storage room B and there was garbage on it.
- Plurkman, on 07/13/2009, -14/+29Looking at the taxes I pay, I've already been working for free most of my life.
- Pimpalicious316, on 07/13/2009, -1/+15a-*****-men.
Begining of this year, mid-january ish, i was called into the boss's office. he said they were going to have to cut back hours in order to avoid firing anyone. I said ok, not a big deal, at least I will have some income and a bit of extra free time. then about a month later he asks why the same amount of work isn't getting done. you see where this is going...
i now work 40 hours a week for 30 hours of pay. but hey, at least i still have a job, right? - borez, on 07/13/2009, -0/+13"Dedication or desperation?" Don't know, but what I do know is it's better to keep yourself in the loop then out of it. In my job ( live sound engineer ) when I get a slow patch, I go and volunteer at a venue down the road that caters for up and coming under 18 yrs bands. It's keeps me connected both with the scene and the people. It's like giving back what I've learnt + it's a laugh.
Or alternatively I could quite easily stay at home and become: "Out of sight, out of mind," and end up stir crazy in the process. - inactive, on 07/13/2009, -0/+13A millionaire and his millionaire shareholders want me to work for free? ha ha ha ha ha..
I can survive without money! they can't! - 8FoldPath, on 07/13/2009, -0/+12I've got a landscaping project I need done. Anyone here care to do it for free? I mean, I have a job and I'll get paid, but although you will not see any money, you will be given the opportunity to stay busy. If you want to network for a paying job, you are free to use my wi-fi during the five minute break I'll allow you to have. Looking forward to working with you. MUHAHAHAHA!!
- acknotSW, on 07/13/2009, -0/+12I have several friends that are being forced to work for free in order to keep their jobs.
1. Company says they will be doing intermittent shutdowns for a week at time to cut costs and paychecks will not be issued for that time.
2. Company lets it be known that the offices will be open in case anyone has any work they need to catch up or wants to get ahead.
3. Company very subtly lets it be known that anyone not taking advantage of that "opportunity" may not have a job when the week is over.
***** *****. - Frixionburne, on 07/13/2009, -1/+13It's neither dedication or desperation....
It's retardation.
Volunteering alongside a paying job is fine.
Volunteering as a job is not. - s0l0s0ul, on 07/13/2009, -0/+10Americans... the new illegal immigrants
- inactive, on 07/13/2009, -1/+11True - but I don't think working for free is a viable option to solve that. You don't want to be working for someone who's willing to make you work for nothing because chances are they don't put any value on your work no matter what the state of the economy is.
- AsSubtleAsABrik, on 07/13/2009, -0/+10Yea except in 2 years you'll still be making minimum wage and he'll hopefully have enough experience to land a good career. He'll probably make more in just a few months than you did in those 2 years at Burger King.
Aren't short term rewards one of the reasons our economy sucks so bad right now? - angusm, on 07/13/2009, -4/+13Capitalists: "If we keep telling people how bad the economy is, eventually they'll be willing to work for us for free? Ex-cell-ent ..."
- DanseMacabre, on 07/13/2009, -0/+9This is terrible. How long until companies realize if they lay off a full time employee they can have someone work for free?
Any good that keeping your resume up to date is getting you is cancelled out by the fact that you are not getting paid, and just as dangerously, other people working for free are taking up the job you want to apply for!
If the company has enough work for you to do, they can be paying you. Enough said. - mah2cent, on 07/13/2009, -2/+10I think it is interesting that no one forced these people to work for free; they are doing it to gain experience.
On another note, this link is a little off-topic, but I believe it is good information that maybe most people have not heard or thought about (the unintended consequences of the minimum wage:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/schiff/schiff34.1.html
- mlvassallo, on 07/13/2009, -0/+7Yes, because all of this has happened since January. Idiot.
- blackinthmiddle, on 07/13/2009, -0/+7I worked at a few McDonalds while in high school and college. Trust me, it's damn hard work and you wouldn't even be able to pay your rent with what you make. You'll be building ZERO in the way of any useful skill, so you basically lock yourself into menial jobs for the rest of your life and flush your college degree down the toilet in the process. I mean, if you ever decide to get a job even close to what your degree was in, try explaining what you did for the last two years.
- Presbyterian, on 07/13/2009, -0/+7You really do have BS don't you.
- Cputerace, on 07/13/2009, -1/+8They cant, tho... Minimum wage is the lowest they can go.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/schiff/schiff34.1.html - KSUdesigner, on 07/13/2009, -2/+8Companies don't need an excuse to cut their expenses, that is pretty common practice. If you own a company and aren't looking for ways to cut expenses, recession or not, then you're not going to profit as much as you could.
- VinnieDaMac, on 07/13/2009, -0/+6I worked in fast food for 2 years in high school. You actually learn a lot from working in fast food. Such as appreciating any other job you have in the future that much more..
- blackinthmiddle, on 07/13/2009, -0/+5Easy to say when you have a secure job.
Right now, my job is fine and my wife and I make good money. Back in '02, I was hopping like mad from job to job as company after company folded. During this time, we were putting an addition on my house, my wife was pregnant and on bed rest with our second child, then I lost my job. To me, there's no absolutes. If working for free is what it takes to land a good paying job, under the right circumstances you *will* do that, your fancy b.s. degree be damned. - vbullinger, on 07/13/2009, -0/+5@angusm
... They're _not_ telling us how bad the economy is. They're whitewashing it, as they've been doing for the last couple of years. - JamesGrimlee, on 07/13/2009, -2/+7This is fallout from the last 30ish years, in particular the last 8. Please allow longer than half a year to fix the terrible mistakes laid upon this country by dumb-as-we-wanna-be faux-conservatives and their mouth-breathing litany of lemming supporters.
- ModLogic, on 07/13/2009, -1/+6Bad.
If you just graduated and you are working for free in a position you would be paid for in a different economy is not only bad for the person, but bad for alot of professions, say-such as commercial arts like design- because it devalues your profession, meaning businesses see it less valuable, therefore lowering wages over time because less money is budgeted.
Interning is great if you havent graduated, and I totally understand the draw to get a foot in the door. But all you are doing is lowering the demand for your specialty in the long run. Businesses will save money any way possible, understandably, but showing that its okay to demand more unpaid experience, even after 4 years of school and often up to 3 years of interning, is a trend that wont be forgotten about once the economy picks up. Why hire and pay a person of equal talent and hurt the bottom line when you have someone of equal talent willing to work for free? - Presbyterian, on 07/13/2009, -1/+5And those poor UAW workers now make only $55 dollars an hour, how will they ever survive....
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE52A3 ... - Swivelstick, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4"Companies don't need an excuse to cut their expenses" If it's a company that cares for it's image they do. But what you say is basically correct people have become blind to a business or corporations responsibility to its workers as profit is seen as the be all and end all regardless of how large that profit is or how much the top executives make.
- crdanie, on 07/13/2009, -2/+6In this job market, I would expect more companies to make pay cuts. I wouldn't expect companies to be so bold as to ask people to work for free. I have to admit though, I would probably work for free until I found a job.
- THE4IRON, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4As a web developer, I'm used to this.
FML. - darkened, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4Since he said offered, I assume not so much.
- duffduffxx, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4Stuff white people like:
Unpaid internships
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/07/20/104-unp ... - Liability, on 07/13/2009, -2/+6Definitely bad, how is this even a question?
- Opiate, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4I'm not sure what's worse, knowingly working for free.. or being forced to work for free half the year.
- czerc1, on 07/13/2009, -1/+5Four months unemployed and counting. I've sent over 60 resumes and have had only a handful of phone interviews. It is truly a competitive environment out there and many of us are willing to do ANYTHING to either land a job or keep our skills sharpened. As for me, I'm continuing my online training(for free) and putting in volunteer hours on top of professional networking. Geez, when will this end?
- Cputerace, on 07/13/2009, -6/+10Socialists: "Don't worry about finding a job, Big brother will take money from those who get a job and give it to you"
- ModLogic, on 07/13/2009, -0/+4No it isnt. Unpaid internships are common for college students, and post grad "internships" are on the rise, many unpaid or at minimum, which depending on your degree is ridiculous. Often, people who take these positions cant even be sure of a real paid job when the company can pay for it, because no one can forecast when that would be, or future circumstance.
- roodammy44, on 07/13/2009, -2/+6So if minimum wage weren't in place, the minimum wage would be zero?
How is this a good thing? Especially considering no-one can live on a minimum wage as it is?
Are you arguing that America should become worse than china in terms of a labour market? - vbullinger, on 07/13/2009, -0/+3Dugg for Shiff and Rockwell, not for your snooty, dismissive tone.
- inactive, on 07/13/2009, -0/+3I'd consider anything open sourced to be charity work.
- Nudar, on 07/13/2009, -4/+7The minimum wage is already so incredibly low that I don't see it having much of an effect on the market.
- mathcreative, on 07/13/2009, -0/+3thanks I enjoyed reading it. But you know probably most of the people this article is talking about could have a job if we didn't have minimum wage.
- vbullinger, on 07/13/2009, -2/+5"Job" isn't a verb.
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