[iraphael]

>they will work with you

Not so sure about that... Tech giants have the advantage of being able to pick from the best applicants out there. In the same way you could say "having these clauses is a deal breaker for me", it's very easy for them to say "NOT having them is a deal breaker for US".

The difference is that if you refuse the offer, you still have to find a jobs elsewhere (and I suspect that most giants will have the same clauses by default). But if they refuse the offer, there is already someone being interviewed that will accept the clauses.

Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but I think that unless these clauses are deal breakers for most developers out there, then this practice will continue to be done.

[calpaterson]

> But if they refuse the offer, there is already someone being interviewed that will accept the clauses.

I bet most companies wish that was so. Probably it isn't, especially if you follow fashion and reject anyone who doesn't know how to invert a binary tree ;).

If you turn down a job because of a bad contract term the company is probably not going to have someone else waiting to jump on! This is one of those cases where market forces would probably indicate that it's worth negotiating but in practice companies will be reluctant for reasons of bureaucracy

[ryandrake]

Probably not one, but ten people being interviewed that will accept the clauses. These days people are lined up for blocks for work.

[morgante]

> These days people are lined up for blocks for work.

There are lines of developers waiting for work?

Please let me know where I can find such lines. I could earn some hefty referral fees from the dozens of hiring managers I know who are desperate to find good developers.

[fapjacks]

You're right, but all of those people can't be good developers. Good developers are still hard to find. You can have a line of people out the door coming in for an interview, but not a single one of them worth a shit behind a keyboard. If you are provably a good developer with a solid track record, your leverage for getting contracts modified to your liking is substantially higher.

[codingdave]

Maybe, but in that case HN seems like the perfect community to take a stand and start telling developers not to sign those contracts.

[iraphael]

True. And I applaud the effort. I just think that, in most cases, they won't work with you in this area. So when telling developers to take a stand, we should also prepare them for what is most likely going to happen when they do.