New wave of strikes will test worker power
Sadly since tech ate the economy software engineers are one of the only groups with any worker power and we're paid way too much to ever use it.EDIT:I was listening to some of the IATSE workers and it sounds like their working conditions deteriorated when Netflix and Amazon bought up Hollywood and shifted the industry from films to churning out long series for streaming. It made me really think about the impact that tech has had on the country in the last 15 years. Growing up in the early 2000s I was very bullish on tech being a force for good (thanks Google and "making the world a better place") but looking at the world that we created is sad to see.I went biking early in the morning a few times this week and came across a bunch of Uber drivers sleeping in their cars with jackets over their heads. All of their strikes and organizing hasn't worked out, they're not "employees" and because they're a global workforce it's hard for them to organize. A few Dev ops engineers at Uber walking off their job for a few days could lead to more change for the workers than all of the NYC drivers striking for weeks.Same goes for Amazon warehouse and delivery drivers. From all of the reporting that I've seen their working conditions are awful but because they're distributed it's hard for them to organize.I grew up on the poorer side of Queens and have high school friends who I can't talk out of falling for NFT and crypto scams.As much as I enjoy using Airbnb it has played a role in reducing the supply of housing and increased housing costs.My younger female cousins are addicted to Instagram and are clearly having body image problems, with some of them opting to get plastic surgery to achieve the typical filtered Instagram look.TLDR: Tech is quickly taking over most industries and consolidating power to a few large players, which makes it harder for what used to be middle class workers to organize and negotiate better working conditions. As the people building and running these tools we have way more leverage than most workers.