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Comment by Cthulhu_ | Hacker News Reader

Thing is, who decides how many tasks someone can do in a day? What if they get paid for 8 but only work for one, but the manager doesn't know they do, and they never communicate their workload is too low?

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Why would you expect Homo Economicus to ask for more work? The companies they work for chase infinite profit at zero cost as a matter of principle, why shouldn’t employees?

This holds whether their butt is in a seat in some office or at home.

I ain't mad at all. If someone can be a CEO to multiple companies, so can employees have multiple jobs.

> Homo Economicus

GOOD ONE

Same can be said for people using LLM agents to complete jobs faster than humans ever possibly can. It's not like they just fluked it. They've learned how to harness the capabilities of the tech. Now companies are introducing this stuff as a normal workflow but they are clueless as to how it actually works and expecting 10x output from people.

It will all crash when they will see that people can't do 10x, even with AI. It requires too much expertise and knowledge in the field to actually make it work as a hired professional. Look at the AWS outages... and they are professionals, right? RIGHT?

I wonder how the transition from classic hammers to nail guns went for carpenters / framers.

Nail guns are tools, just like hammers. However, you have to know how to use it and to know how to adjust the pressure for the depth you need. It also costs money, much more than a hammer. And you can't use normal nails, you have to have a specific cartridge of nails, and you must know how to adjust it, and ultimately to not die.

Now compare it again.

Nailguns are not as complicated as you think, anybody with IQ over 80 can be trained to the top proficiency in 30 mins. Same goes for other power tools, they are generally much easier to use and more productive than their human-powered equivalent. The effect of the construction industry adoption of those is in smaller crew sizes, which is also being observed in SW industry.

I think it's a fair comparison; experienced carpenters who've learned to work fast with a hammer, now asked to be 10x more productive while using a new tool they don't have experience with. It probably got more than a few a bit bothered.

get your carpenter a circular saw, a drill, a router, a hand planner and an orbital. on many jobs you ll get your 10x.

you don't need much experience. the tools make you insanely faster with much much less physical strain and maintenance time. they're simple, predictable, reliable, and obscenely powerful.

an experimented carpenter would take a few minutes to be decent at using then.

- stable and "slow" is best - don't ever let the blade get pinched (by wood) - be mindful of the cords - keep the flesh out of the way - goggles up and don't breathe the dust

you got 95% of it there

There are very few contractors still swinging a hammer. They're going to be slower and more expensive than the competition, which is a major factor in getting the job.

This is a management issue. They should be keeping an eye on the progress and see if the pace is enough for the deadline. Estimates are a thing too, I know. But you can see if someone is slacking and falls behind. If the workload is low, why would it matter as long as the things are done?

Companies should stop penalizing people for being work efficient, and increase their salary if the workload increases.

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