[Discuss] [OT]Discuss - Software Engineering union

[tmetro-blu at vl.com (Tom Metro)]

Mark Woodward wrote:
> An engineering union, could be a good move for the industry. It would
> certainly provide some "push back" against abusive contracts and NDAs.

It would seem, at least at the moment, there are already natural forces
combating unfavorable employment contracts for software developers:

42Floors': The War For Talent Among Startups Needs A New Approach.
Here's Why
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/27/42floors-pda-the-war-for-talent-among-startups-needs-a-new-approach-heres-why/

  42Floors Co-founder Jason Freedman had been following the work of
  UPenn sophomore Dan Shipper on Hacker News. The two had chatted a few
  times by phone and on Twitter, and Freedman was so impressed by the
  quality of Shipper's programming, design skills, and smarts, that he
  decided to publicly offer the sophomore a job -- via the company blog.

  Why? Well, first off, it was likely to turn into publicity both for
  Shipper and for 42Floors. So there's that. It was also done somewhat
  with an ulterior motive. As Freedman says in his post, the team
  believes that "hiring is dead." And he has a point: If you're looking
  to hire the kind of talent that is out there actually building
  products, companies, etc. (and who isn't?), those men and women likely
  aren't filling out job applications. So if you want them, you have to
  court them.
[...]
  ...young companies can't be competitive when it comes to salary. ...
  In the case of...42Floors...it's "personal development," it's making
  it known that you value their talent, what they're capable of, and
  want to help them reach their goals
[...]
  Freedman believes there's a war for talent out there, and he's not
  wrong.
[...]
  Speaking at the Techonomy Conference last November, Parker said that
  the industry is overcrowded with small startups. And because there's
  so much capital going around, many of these find funding.
  ...many of these entrepreneurs...opt instead to start their own
  businesses. Then, they, in turn, have trouble finding top talent as
  they scale because it either gets [hired] by Facebook for more than
  they can pay, or the talent, like they did themselves, goes off to
  found its own venture.

The above sets up the circumstances, but the interesting bit is what the
recruiting entrepreneur posted in his pitch to the student (quoted at
the end of the article):

  Here is your job description: You will make gorgeous products that
  help entrepreneurs find their dream office. There are dozens of things
  we need built -- you will pick what you most want to work on or come
  up with your own project.
  [...]
  You will never be asked to sign a non-compete. You will be free to
  contribute to open source, free to blog about anything and everything,
  and never be required to submit a patent that could be used
  offensively.

So it seems if you can make yourself attractive to the current crop of
startups, you'd have good leverage to name your terms.

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/