which is the process by which big entrenched players make it hard for others to compete with them. Consider this quote:
"I believe we need a more active role for governments and regulators."
That's not a quote from Bernie Sanders; that's a quote from Mark Zuckerberg.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but my default assumption is that anything coming out of the political machine will benefit the big entrenched players at others' expense.
Then I made a couple of obvious leaps and realised I was quickly converging on existing ideas like unions, and then guilds.
Does anyone know why guilds stopped being a thing? One possibility that comes to mind is that having a third party (the guild) involved in the employer/employee relationship would make things awkward and it might eventually seem unnecessary as the relationship developed -- although this would be a pretense obviously, as the employee is ultimately disposable as far as the company is concerned.
Obviously unions are popular, but they don't seem to go very far in terms of being involved in the whole process of work -- deciding who is going to work where, what the terms will be, etc.
Arguably though, medicine and academia are guilds.
Early guilds probably used violence to restrict entry; later they needed the state to enforce guild restrictions, so when the state decided it didn't want to; that guild was over.
I suspect that cooperatives are a better model than guilds for the modern era.
I agree unionization is a very good idea for software engineers and the industry should have tried to do it decades ago. I think it hasn't happened because of the overall weakness of US organized labor and prevailing ideological biases among software engineers which go against our own interests. If unions work well for other highly compensated professionals like athletes there's no reason they can't work for us.
H1B should be much more heavily scrutinized. And for those who are granted visas, their compensation needs to be exceptional, so that it doesn’t compete with American workers.
and besides, over-restricting import of labour will just result in offshoring dev teams to India. just look at major USA tech names
Consider the rise of digital cooperatives or platform co-ops. These could provide an alternative to the traditional tech company structure, offering workers more control and stability. Imagine a software development co-op where members collectively own the platform and share in its profits, or a data analysis cooperative that serves multiple industries while ensuring fair compensation and work-life balance for its members.
Another avenue could be the formation of tech guilds or collectives. These could function as support networks for freelancers and contract workers, providing shared resources, negotiating power, and continuous learning opportunities. This model could be particularly effective in emerging fields like AI ethics or sustainable tech, where collaboration and knowledge-sharing are crucial.
We might also see the emergence of "tech for good" startups focusing on solving social and environmental issues. These could attract talent disillusioned with Big Tech and looking for more meaningful work.
The key is to leverage the current market disruption to create structures that prioritize worker well-being, sustainable growth, and societal benefit. Instead of waiting for the next big company to hire us, maybe it's time we started building the future of work ourselves.
What do others think? Are there other innovative models we should be exploring in response to the current market conditions?