[meiraleal]

> but you are still negatively impacting Amazon's sales

It is not the responsibility of a single employee. Even more in a market so ubiquitous as "ecommerce".

The same way, Amazon (and other tech companies) impacts negatively the careers of its employees when it change platforms, frameworks, technologies or do a layoff.

[crack-the-code]

Why should a company hire someone who is potentially going to impact their own revenue? And in rarer cases, a side project that actually generates enough revenue to where the amount of money they are paying you is less than the share you are taking from their revenue.

To your second point, sure, employers hold more power. What is wrong with that? If you don't like it, you can always work somewhere else.

[meiraleal]

> Why should a company hire someone who is potentially going to impact their own revenue?

Because every software engineer can impact their own revenue the same way.

> To your second point, sure, employers hold more power. What is wrong with that? If you don't like it, you can always work somewhere else.

Don't liking it, I'm supporting my peers in HN that it is not unethical to have a side project and use it as a leverage to not be subject to the humor of your boss. It is also good for the company, as desperate people aren't creative.