[chris11]

I'm not saying that taking the job was a good decision. But it isn't just because of her personal situation, I just don't know who this job would be good for. It wasn't a good opportunity for advancement, she found out she had to wait a year before she could transfer. It didn't pay enough so people could afford to live without getting money elsewhere. And I don't think going into debt for this job would provide any benefit for a career. Sure, that specific job might be great for a few people in very specific circumstances, but it didn't look like Yelp was concerned about job fit. And her coworkers were having problems too. So what is screwed up is a company expecting people to make major financial sacrifices to work there. It look like yelp is taking advantage of their workforce.

I agree with you, if this is a really accurate picture of what it is like in SF, it might collapse. But I think companies will have some responsibility, not just workers who took bad job offers.

[wanderer2323]

A year in a paying position is an excellent opportunity for advancement. The author's entitlement shines incredibly brightly when she makes her point. What's so special about her that she should be offered advancement faster? Her English lit major? Pshaw, I can get one in every Starbucks.

Fun fact: one word not in this article: roommate. 'The author's greatest expense is rent yet living with others does not enter her world. By the way, you asked "who this job is for"? People willing to share rent for starters.

People willing to make dumb decisions will face the consequences. The author tries to make it about Yelp, but it's not about Yelp, or any other company paying people "$8.15 an hour after taxes". If you want someone to take responsibility, it should be Talia Jane.

[chris11]

A year in a paying position is good, but I see no extra value that Yelp is having that would make the idea of losing money working there a good position. Sure, maybe they liked to promote within, and maybe she could have changed departments in a year, but I would want to believe that the company would commit helping me change departments at the end of the year. I don't see that commitment from Yelp. Without that I would assume any decent media job would be better than staying at Yelp as a CSR. Getting a job as a CSR doesn't seem to be that intrinsically interesting if you wanted to get a job in media.

I'm not saying taking the job was not a bad idea. I'm saying I can't really think of any group of people for whom that job would be a good fit, besides maybe students who weren't worried about rent. And I think Yelp is exploiting their entry-level workers.

I've had a full-time job or two from large corporations that were very low pay and did not have room for advancement. And I think I was very lucky to get those positions. I ended up getting some really great opportunities that I'm really grateful for. But I don't feel I was being exploited at all. Even though I might have been able to get more money outside of that industry, I was getting really valuable experience in a field I wanted to work in. It wasn't customer service work. And even though living in the same city as my work might have been a bad idea, I could have afforded rent outside of the city. And I basically only took the jobs for the work experience from those position. It would have been naive of me if I had been expecting the opportunities that I got.

I would have had to have been really entitled to write a public complaint about my pay and work. I don't think it would have been honest, and practically it would have cost me a lot. I might not have actually discovered how expensive that mistake would be. But I don't think I was treated unfairly. And the difference with Yelp is that I have the impression Yelp would not be able to meet their hiring needs for that position with their current offers if they weren't hiring people who were either desperate or making bad decisions.