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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: Sheilbh on November 27, 2020, 04:34:44 PM

Poll
Question: What industries wouldn't you take a job in? (3 choices)
Option 1: Arms
Option 2: Tobacco
Option 3: Alcohol
Option 4: Gambling
Option 5: Fast Food
Option 6: Fossil Fuels/Minerals
Option 7: Big Agriculture
Option 8: Big Tech/Social Media (Facebook/Twitter/Google etc)
Option 9: Aviation/Automobiles
Option 10: Other
Title: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Sheilbh on November 27, 2020, 04:34:44 PM
Prompted by a sports podcast I listened to recently where the host had crisis of conscience over whether he should accept money from/do events for the gambling industry. It's something I've been thinking about for a while because after he (and his guests) generally absolved him of guilt, they then did a special episode with a representative of the gambling industry and a recovering addict.

At the end of that episode he decided not to take any more money from gambling companies - and I've heard some incredibly dark stories from clever software guys who joined gambling companies and then got out very quickly.

So I was wondering what industries would you refuse to work in and why? Obviously the list is very biased and based on the sort of industries I think would raise an eyebrow with people I know (though I do have a friend who we joke is a gun runner....so it would just be a raised eyebrow).
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Caliga on November 27, 2020, 04:40:44 PM
Only gambling.  Alcohol and tobacco is fine with me... you can enjoy both products in moderation and it's fine.  Plus Louisville would go bust if people stopped drinking since we make so much booze here. :lol:  We also still grow quite a bit of tobacco, though not nearly like what we used to in this state.

Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: mongers on November 27, 2020, 04:44:53 PM
In no particular order:

Gambling (as you highlight)
Arms trade/manufacture
Advertising
Social Media companies.
Tobacco industry.
Any private school in whatever capacity.
Any business that purports to be artisan, ethical, bespoke or 'green'.

But not the Oil/Gas industry.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: celedhring on November 27, 2020, 04:46:14 PM
Gambling and advertising. And I have worked in advertising...
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Eddie Teach on November 27, 2020, 04:48:39 PM
I'm not looking for work, but don't have qualms about working in any legal industry.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Caliga on November 27, 2020, 04:48:48 PM
Quote from: mongers on November 27, 2020, 04:44:53 PM
Advertising
Social Media companies.
:huh:
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Monoriu on November 27, 2020, 05:42:41 PM
I won't work for criminal organisations, the triads, political parties, or the rioters. But otherwise the highest bidder for my services wins.  Not that there are any bidders though.  In reality beggers can't be choosers, and I won't mind working for any of those industry listed in the poll.   
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Razgovory on November 27, 2020, 05:59:09 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on November 27, 2020, 05:42:41 PM
I won't work for criminal organisations, the triads, political parties, or the rioters. But otherwise the highest bidder for my services wins.  Not that there are any bidders though.  In reality beggers can't be choosers, and I won't mind working for any of those industry listed in the poll.


Well, you do already work for a political party and a criminal organization.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Razgovory on November 27, 2020, 06:04:05 PM
Avian prostitution.  In handjobs for birds in particular.  It's just not worth it.

"I just flew in from Chicago and boy, are wrists tired~"
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Maladict on November 27, 2020, 06:59:57 PM
Gambling, social media, advertising/lobbying, meat industry, politics
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: DGuller on November 27, 2020, 08:16:25 PM
Went with gambling, big tech, and tobacco.  All three industries rely on hooking vulnerable people and then milking them dry without regard to the wellbeing of the cows.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Grey Fox on November 27, 2020, 10:26:24 PM
I feel that I already work in all of them.

I'm part of a team that makes products that can & are use for all sorts of different purposes. From oil exploration in the gulf of Mexico to grain sorting going through taking pictures of the Mars landscape.

*shrug*
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Barrister on November 27, 2020, 10:54:34 PM
There's no option to null vote. :mellow:

I have previously worked in the mining industry.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Sheilbh on November 27, 2020, 11:06:50 PM
My mistake - not great at polls :blush:
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Solmyr on November 28, 2020, 02:16:20 AM
No arms or fossil fuels, definitely. Wasn't a choice in the poll, but also no fur industry. Those industries need to die a horrible death.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: The Brain on November 28, 2020, 05:23:12 AM
I have a hard time seeing myself working in tobacco or gambling. Arms would have to be military (I think Sweden should have a military defense, and they need arms) or hunting, I don't want to help make civilian handguns for nutters and criminals (handguns for police would be fine, but my guess is that no handgun maker only makes police weapons). I would never work for the Catholic church (not a huge fan of pedophile rings), but many religious organizations would be fine.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Threviel on November 28, 2020, 05:43:45 AM
In my line of work, embedded software development, there's only one big employer in my town. They make network surveillance equipment, big customers are Turkey, Turkmenistan, Belarus and so on. B and C level dictatorships that don't have the capability themselves to build the equipment.

I didn't even bother contacting them when I was unemployed a year ago, I do not want to work with that crap. I'd rather work at Volvo in Gothenburg even though it's an hour longer drive.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: merithyn on November 28, 2020, 10:31:01 AM
I'm surprised private health insurance didn't make the list, if I'm honest. I know plenty of people who put my industry right up there with alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. For plenty of the companies in the industry, that's not far off.

Arms, gambling, and fossil fuels for me.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Sheilbh on November 28, 2020, 10:40:10 AM
Quote from: merithyn on November 28, 2020, 10:31:01 AM
I'm surprised private health insurance didn't make the list, if I'm honest. I know plenty of people who put my industry right up there with alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. For plenty of the companies in the industry, that's not far off.
Probably my bias/perception from the UK - my experience of private healthcare is for things like physio.

QuoteArms, gambling, and fossil fuels for me.
Same. I also don't think I could work in tobacco, or big tech.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: celedhring on November 28, 2020, 11:05:27 AM
My mother works in private health insurance  :P

I'd say private insurers are orders of magnitude less evil in Euroland than their yank counterparts, mostly because you can't be too predatory when your customers have a public "free" alternative.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Tamas on November 28, 2020, 11:06:30 AM
I once applied to an online gambling company, I thought I could handle it. The people on the phone interview sounded really nice and they seemed quite eager to see me in person but after learning they were running online gambling sites in Africa (Nigeria IIRC), I just couldn't stomach it and declined the second interview.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: celedhring on November 28, 2020, 11:10:21 AM
As I said, I worked in advertising back in the time, it's an evil cynical industry and I hated every single day I was in it (but that was at the heart of the recession and I indeed needed the money). Bill Hicks had the truth of it.

There are some "ethical marketers" out there, though, but their work is pretty niche.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: The Larch on November 28, 2020, 11:16:53 AM
In tech you don't really have to go big to find ethical wrongdoings. A friend of mine moved to Ireland for work and found his first job in a start-up there, so he thought it'd be a cool environment to work at, as the place had all the cool bells and whistles of the sector, but it turned out that their star product was a highly intrusive embebbed software for online advertising directed at the Indian market. After a few months he decided he'd rather work somewhere else.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Iormlund on November 28, 2020, 11:26:02 AM
Quote from: DGuller on November 27, 2020, 08:16:25 PM
Went with gambling, big tech, and tobacco.  All three industries rely on hooking vulnerable people and then milking them dry without regard to the wellbeing of the cows.

Same for me.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Tamas on November 28, 2020, 11:31:10 AM
What do we mean by "big tech"? I worked for IBM and I don't feel dirty for it. :unsure:
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: The Larch on November 28, 2020, 11:37:06 AM
Quote from: Tamas on November 28, 2020, 11:31:10 AM
What do we mean by "big tech"? I worked for IBM and I don't feel dirty for it. :unsure:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust)

:P
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: fromtia on November 28, 2020, 11:50:40 AM
I imagine, to an extent that there are ethical questions for most people in whatever industry they end up making a living in. We all have to make a living though, so we are probably best advised to not spend too much time fretting. Gambling seems fairly egregious for the obvious reasons. Firearms, health insurance in the US is certainly a borderline scam. Meat packing, eggs and so on. I eat animals, but I do think how we treat animals is a serious question.

I haven't had a drink in 11 years and I'm pretty careful about my diet - probably one of the key factors in minimizing ones risk of the big metabolic diseases. In spite of those facts I make a good living at the high end of the restaurant industry persuading people to order that very expensive steak and the wine and booze to go with, it's often pretty clear that the customers would be better advised to drastically change their diet and take an extended break from drinking alcohol.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Zanza on November 28, 2020, 12:37:14 PM
I work in the automotive industry. I feel a certain dilemma between my personal convictions that large cars are bad for climate, inner city congestion, dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists etc. but are the cash cows consumers desire and which pay my salary.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Eddie Teach on November 28, 2020, 12:57:14 PM
Cars are great. I hope you don't lose too much sleep.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Iormlund on November 28, 2020, 12:58:12 PM
We sell a lot of alpha (tall) variants, even for low end segments. I feel that's a failure of regulators, though.

Another interesting angle is the protected status companies like ours have. On one hand it seems wrong that automakers enjoy privileges over other businesses. On the other hand, the sad reality is that these plants are the pillars of the regional economy. Few will notice if Pepe's barber shop closes down. But if an OEM leaves town, the whole area might become a ghost town. And that means even more people moving to Madrid and Barcelona, which is bad any way you look at it (environmentally, socially, politically).
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: The Brain on November 28, 2020, 01:04:28 PM
How does the protected status manifest itself?
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: The Larch on November 28, 2020, 03:05:19 PM
Quote from: The Brain on November 28, 2020, 01:04:28 PM
How does the protected status manifest itself?

Over here, at the slightest chance of a car factory moving somewhere else all public authorities bend over backwards to offer tax cuts and privileged fiscal conditions for it to stay in place.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Zanza on November 28, 2020, 04:11:27 PM
Quote from: Eddie Teach on November 28, 2020, 12:57:14 PM
Cars are great. I hope you don't lose too much sleep.
(https://media.tenor.com/images/cd46f9954e627f07df50f89a04fb9579/tenor.gif)
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Monoriu on November 28, 2020, 07:20:43 PM
Big banks aren't mentioned any more? 
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Darth Wagtaros on November 28, 2020, 08:11:13 PM
Religion and gambling.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Admiral Yi on November 28, 2020, 08:23:47 PM
Child prostitution.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Monoriu on November 28, 2020, 10:04:08 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 28, 2020, 08:23:47 PM
Child prostitution.

That should be covered under the illegal part. 
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Admiral Yi on November 28, 2020, 10:25:02 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on November 28, 2020, 10:04:08 PM
That should be covered under the illegal part.

What illegal part are you referring to?
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: DontSayBanana on November 28, 2020, 10:27:30 PM
Seeing as how I've already skirted working with the arms industry (close enough to be under ITAR scrutiny, anyway) and fossil fuels... actually, there's only one company that's absolutely in my No-Fly Zone, and that's Comcast. They're right up there with Monsanto and ADM for being openly monolistic and just not caring about how they look.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Darth Wagtaros on November 29, 2020, 09:39:46 AM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on November 28, 2020, 10:27:30 PM
Seeing as how I've already skirted working with the arms industry (close enough to be under ITAR scrutiny, anyway) and fossil fuels... actually, there's only one company that's absolutely in my No-Fly Zone, and that's Comcast. They're right up there with Monsanto and ADM for being openly monolistic and just not caring about how they look.
I loath them.  Fuck Comcast. Never work for them unless I'm absolutely desperate.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: celedhring on November 29, 2020, 09:52:51 AM
Comcast are fine.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Duque de Bragança on November 29, 2020, 10:23:59 AM
Gambling is a bit broader than one may think with the loot box issue in video games because there is an amount of gambling with the very concept.
Lately, EA with the Ultimate Team for the FIFA games has been heavily criticized.

I already worked in the video game industry but the loot box was not present back then.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Razgovory on November 29, 2020, 12:30:10 PM
One of the many perks of being unemployable is that I never have this sort of problem #sanepeopleproblems
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Darth Wagtaros on November 29, 2020, 07:43:41 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on November 29, 2020, 12:30:10 PM
One of the many perks of being unemployable is that I never have this sort of problem #sanepeopleproblems
But you'd miss out on so much. 
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Razgovory on November 29, 2020, 08:00:36 PM
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on November 29, 2020, 07:43:41 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on November 29, 2020, 12:30:10 PM
One of the many perks of being unemployable is that I never have this sort of problem #sanepeopleproblems
But you'd miss out on so much.

That is the downside of being a recluse.
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Monoriu on November 29, 2020, 08:47:09 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 28, 2020, 10:25:02 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on November 28, 2020, 10:04:08 PM
That should be covered under the illegal part.

What illegal part are you referring to?

I guess I just found it a bit odd to single out child prostitution out of all the illegal stuff. 
Title: Re: Industries you wouldn't work in
Post by: Eddie Teach on November 29, 2020, 08:49:18 PM
I find Yi running a Ponzi scheme a bit more plausible.