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by tvanantwerp 1288 days ago
How many CEO's are CEO'ing for more than one company?

If they can do it, why not the plebs?

2 comments

Because the plebs sign contracts saying they won’t.

It’s not illegal, just highly unethical. It’s also not true, he does not know someone doing this.

Is it highly unethical? You're hired to do a job, if you can successfully do that job and another one, I don't think there is anything unethical about doing that. It's very common in lower wage positions, not sure why it's suddenly unethical in higher wage positions. I would say it's unethical to force people to sign a contract saying you own all of their attention during the day, even if you don't use it.
You sign a contract stating you're going to devote all of your available professional mental energy towards your company's problems.
Violating a contract is not the same as doing something unethical. People violate non-competes all the time and IMO doing so is VERY ethical.
What's unethical is saying you'll do something and then not doing that.

In your example, the "ethical" way to violate a non-compete is to redact it from the original contract.

I'm not saying you're the worst person ever, but littering is unethical, and so is saying you'll do something and then not doing it (or vice versa).

I agree that would be ideal, but realistically there's usually a pretty big power imbalance between someone seeking a job and a potential employer. I'd say that how ethical it is varies depending on the company. For example, Jimmy Johns has non-compete agreements. Someone working at Jimmy Johns has 0 ability to negotiate that. Are they unethical if they quit after a year or so to go work at Subway? I would say obviously not, maybe you'd think they are.

I'm sure you're thinking "but we're talking about software jobs where people have a lot more choice and bargaining power", which is definitely the case, hence why I mentioned that it depends on the company. On the most unethical end of contract violation I'd put the small startup that treats its people right and on the other end I'd put Walmart.

If you sign a contract, then it is breach of contract, which would be a kind of illegal.

I don't see the ethical quandaries though. So long as one is doing the work promised, and the company is satisfied with their output. It's not any more unethical than working on any other side project after hours.

It's not, generally speaking, a criminal offense to violate a contract, I don't believe (IANAL!).
Not the sort of illegal that'll get you thrown in jail though.
Right, it's the sort of illegal where you go to civil court.

Sure, if you lose you probably just end up paying money. But lots of "real" crimes have punishments that amount to paying some fines but no jail time.

It's true, I know the guy. He's an outlier for sure, but he exists. Moreover, he moved from the toughest FAANG to more relaxed ones.
I believe you. People that doubt these things are usually projecting some kind of insecurity. "It's impossible!"... no actually, not only is it possible but it happens all the time and yes it happens with FAANG workers too.

It's funny, when this topic comes up, the people that are juggling multiple jobs are usually stuck in this weird place where they want to convince people it's true but at the same time not draw too much attention to it (for obvious reasons).

> People that doubt these things are usually projecting some kind of insecurity. "It's impossible!"... no actually, not only is it possible but it happens all the time and yes it happens with FAANG workers too.

And a lot of this comes from people who are far less wordly than they think they are. Like there are people that genuinely believe that no one in security makes more than $200k except CISOs.

I doubt these claims because I know human nature pushes people to lie in order to contribute to conversations.

I understand it's entirely possible to juggle two remote jobs, I just don't think it's nearly as common as people claim or think, which is why it's an easy lie to make. It's got nothing to do with the total salaries involved, and everything to do with the exceedingly rare nature of the claim.

I can believe it happens, but not with two jobs paying $600k each.
It's total compensation (including stocks and bonuses).
Well, if I didn't believe you before, why do you think "It's true!" would sway me?
You said "it's not true" and not "I believe it's not true", i.e. a fact vs opinion, so I reacted.
But that ignores my point; you said something, I said what you said isn't true, so when you restate what you already said without adding anything, you're not improving your position.
I personally know I person who works two remote PM jobs at the same time and in addition runs her own side gig. Sometimes she joins two meetings from the two laptops at the same time.

I know a guy who overlapped months of two different jobs.

So it exists and happens. And for IC-type positions should be even easier.

Well, you aren't supposed to destroy the fabric of society! /s

How do you think society would work if there was no restriction on the size of the group that is allowed to break the laws for their own benefit?! Imagine the horror if all plebs were allowed to do that! Could everyone live in Monaco or what?

Util(itsrianism) is truth(tilitarianism)

The categorical imperative deserves to stay in the dustbin of history.