‘Overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI

You may want to just find something else to do. The industry is not going to get any better going forward anyway. I’m a full-time web developer that works from home. But I’m joining the pipefitters union to do HVAC work. I need the life insurance, the health insurance, the better pay, the 401k, the 1.5 to 2X overtime pay, and the pension credits. Right now I’m only paid cash. I’m midcareer and this industry doesn’t want people like me. I’m a very reliable worker and have been for decades, but I am American and worse yet I’m white, have sex with a woman, and I expected a decent wage out of my chosen career. But it never really happened. I was always either low on pay or low on benefits. If you ever do acquire great pay and great benefits, you’re at the top of their spreadsheet to cut. And you’re never getting younger. They can always bring in someone who will work for less either from school or overseas. At my company, someone left that worked in Michigan, and they’re trying to replace him with someone from Mexico City. Already most of our coworkers are in India. It sounds like you’re in a similar situation. Other types of work can be good too. It’s nice to move around a little bit every day. Give the industry what they want. Let them have their cheap labor. They don’t want reliable employees anyway.

Curious about attempting something like this in my area as well since I’m remote. Are you doing both or does one have to give way to the other eventually?

Also im seeing the same trend as you at my company, roles replaced overseas while people only focus on AI taking the jobs i think this is the more sinister thing happening quietly (by that i mean not getting much news coverage)

Not surprised to hear that it’s the trend. It’s been going on for quite some time. I used to work for a very large Canadian multinational and HR told me they only hire US/Canadian lead developers. The rest were to be from Bulgaria. This was 10 years ago.

I’m in-progress on all of this but I’m offering my services to my current employer though my LLC for 20 hours a week at 3X the hourly rate of my old salary. Take it or leave it. They are losing their leverage for me with his move. I no longer need them, they can’t put me in the streets.

So not entirely leaving the industry but will take any work at or above the market rate. High rates mean less waste of my time, as it is more limited with starting a 2nd career.

For doing both, there’s no abusive overtime like in software because it’s double time pay. Which puts you at the pay rate of what would be $240,000 a year. No one wastes your time at that rate. You actually want overtime when it’s fairly compensated like that. You can do both.

It’s sad when you work towards something your entire life, both in school and professionally. And you’ve never done anything wrong. We played by the rules of our society, and our lives were stolen from us. As Steve Bannon famously said once, these American workers deserve reparations. If the situation is ever corrected, I don’t think it would be too hard to jump back in at that point full-time.