I’ve been scrolling through job listings lately (not by choice, mind you - thanks redundancy), and something’s been grinding my gears. Why are recruiters and HR departments treating basic legal requirements like they’re generous gifts from the employment gods?

You know what I’m talking about. Those job ads that breathlessly announce “We offer 4 weeks annual leave!” and “We contribute to your superannuation!” like they’re revolutionising workplace benefits. Mate, that’s not a perk - that’s literally what the law says you have to do. It’s like advertising “We pay you money for your work!” or “Our building has functioning fire exits!”

Reading about Sergey Brin’s recent comments suggesting Google employees should work 60-hour weeks to achieve AGI faster made my blood boil a bit this morning. The tech industry’s toxic “hustle culture” seems to be reaching new heights of absurdity.

Remember when tech companies at least pretended to care about work-life balance? Those ping pong tables and free snacks were meant to create the illusion that working in tech was somehow different from the corporate grind. Now we’ve got billionaires openly demanding their already well-worked employees sacrifice even more of their lives for the noble cause of… making their employers even richer.

Recently stumbled upon a job listing that perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with the current tech hiring landscape. Picture this: an “entry-level” developer position requiring 3+ years of team management experience, preferably a master’s degree, and - here’s the kicker - offering a salary that’s actually below minimum wage for full-time work in Australia.

The mental gymnastics required to label a position requiring three years of experience and a master’s degree as “entry-level” is truly Olympic-worthy. We’re talking about someone who’s invested potentially seven years between education and work experience, yet they’re supposed to accept a salary that would’ve been questionable even back in the early 2000s.