[ericmsimons]

What's crazy is that this reminds me of how slaves used to be sold. Round up a few folks who can do hard work, put them on a podium and then sell them to the highest bidder.

Not a perfect analogy by any stretch, although it is interesting.

[ritchiea]

That's ridiculous. It's a resemblance in name only. The format is actually a tremendous shift of power towards the employee and the developer gets a portion of the total recruitment fee.

And obviously no one is literally auctioned off, employees and employers both have a say in the matter.

Also what slaves got auctioned off to make six figures in loft offices of hip cities?

[waterlesscloud]

The name remains awful, but they seem committed to stick with it. For better or worse.

[TheCoelacanth]

A key difference is that the slaves didn't have a choice about which bids to accepts, they just went to the highest bidder, nor did they keep the proceeds.

With this, they aren't really bids in the strictest sense, they're non-binding offers of an interview.