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Comment by scarface_74 | Hacker News Reader

I have never even thought who was replacing me or worried about my job being replaced by “foreigners”.

I’ve had 10 jobs over almost 30 years and I’ve been laid off twice - once when a company got acquired and once this year and I got Amazoned last year. It’s never taken me more than a month to get a job once I started looking.

I kept my skill set and resume up to date, always prepared to interview and I have a great network.

Yes I am a minority and I’m damn good at what I do - strategic cloud consulting with an emphasis on application development. Yes I’ve worked for a FAANG (direct hire).

Trust me, companies didn’t just hire me either at BigTech or a strategic hire at startups or to lead million dollar+ projects because I’m Black.

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Good to know. Thanks for your feedback. It certainly isn't fun to hire, train and then be replaced by foreigners. Going years without being hired is especially difficult. Being raised poor, white, hyper religious, kept out of college and forced to teach myself everything from high-school onward made the struggle even harder. I can imagine that being black as you say made your struggles different than mine, but difficult none the less. Keeping ones skills up to date certainly is essential. I too have never worried about foreigners replacing me. I do not have a great network. People most certainly don't hire me solely due to being white.

Interestingly, the current issue isn't so much getting hired as it is getting an interview at all. This has started after the rise of chatgpt. No one has bothered to ask me what the issue is and has instead jumped to conclusions which I'm personally quite entertained by. As I said in my original post: my situation is unique.

(Edited some words for clarification)

I didn’t claim that I had it harder either…

My mom was a well connected school teacher where I grew up and my dad a factory worker (both still living and just celebrated their 56th anniversary).

I was programming in assembly language on my Apple //e in 1986 in sixth grade.

The tech environment is one of the most egalitarian industries. I have never seen signs of systemic discrimination.

Surprisingly enough, the only reports I’ve heard about widespread discrimination are by Indians against other Indians…

https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/caste-...

I can tell you that i have faced some extremely difficult adversities. I don't talk about it online or to people outside of a few that I hold very close. I didn't have an easy upbringing or life in general. I got lucky a few times, and I've pushed myself as hard as possible the rest of the way.

I'm not surprised by the stats you shared. The most discrimination and workplace harassment / bullying I've recieved is from white people. Me and the Indians, Russians and black people I've worked with got along great -- and some of the white people of course.

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