Comment on Tech worker co-operatives - a growing alternative to traditional employment?

• partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  the difference in salary they’re talking about is more along the lines of small business vs venture capital-backed startup or established huge corporation.

  That would make sense if the organization is revenue generating with its own business efforts instead of enabling other organizations, which is what it sounds like is the case for this tech co-op. The co-op doesn’t seem to generate anything of their own. It sounds like they get contract work from NGOs and non-profits. If there is no work, or not enough, what happens to the co-op workers?

  and you’d have to try pretty hard to become unemployed at a coop. there are generally no “layoffs” since there is no greedy billionaire

  So when the NGO and non-profit contract work declines or dries up entirely for a time and there is less or no money coming in, how do salaries get paid at 100%? Does each tech co-op worker simply get a small percentage of the remaining income? How long do workers actively working contracts for NGOs/non-profits in the co-op continue to subsidize those that don’t/can’t get placed on work?

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  • drapeaunoir@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    getting steady work is critical. if work dries up, often everyone takes a pay cut till times are good again. some coops pay hourly, not salary, so subsidizing isn’t a thing for them. for the ones that do salary, there is the temporary furlough route, but ideally there is savings for such eventualities. savings and / or loans can be used to ride out dry spells.

    but generally speaking, coops are more stable than typical corporate businesses simply due to the lack of a billionaire class extracting profits and making big decisions on their whims. coops are democratic (even consensus-based!) so the coop does what is good for the worker, not the billionaire.

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    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I appreciate alternate methods of business, but some of your statements here are worrying.

      there is the temporary furlough route,

      but you also said earlier…

      and you’d have to try pretty hard to become unemployed at a coop. there are generally no “layoffs” since there is no greedy billionaire at “the top” needing a second yacht.

      Furlough sounds like another name for layoff here.

      but ideally there is savings for such eventualities. savings and / or loans can be used to ride out dry spells.

      Ideally sounds like wishful thinking. They’re already limiting their work because they only work with NGOs or non-profits, which are usually cash strapped. Further, the lower pay to tech workers mean that the workers have less of a financial cushion should the work dry up for a time. This goes back to my first post that tech workers that don’t live a country with strong social safety nets may find tech co-ops a risky employer.

      more stable than typical corporate businesses simply due to the lack of a billionaire class extracting profits and making big decisions on their whims

      Yeah yeah fuck the rich, but billionaires are a small fraction of the owners of IT consulting companies. The majority of them are small boutique firms rather than giant fortune 500 companies.

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