All Or Nothing Hiring

One annoying thing about jobs is that they are often all-or-nothing. You can't negotiate very much. At the very most you can negotiate salary, but things like window office, benefits, vacation allowances, etc. are not up for negotiation. You can't say, "Hey boss, I'll take 5K less in salary to have a window office". It does not work that way.

Also, even though many companies are gung-ho to offshore their development staff, one cannot bid low to get a development position. For example, if you put on your resume that you will accept 30k USD a year, it does not increase responses. Adam Smith is absent when it comes to salaries and negotiations. How the hell can one compete with the world if price does not even work anymore?

I agree in spirit, but there are a few times when some of this is negotiable. Not usually, you are correct, but I have known a small number of people who negotiated lower pay in exchange for 4 day work weeks, etc.

It would be nice if all of this were completely a matter of the invisible hand.

I think. I wonder if there'd be deleterious side effects I haven't thought of.

CategoryEmployment