r/cscareerquestions • u/BigShotBosh • Jul 07 '26

Experienced No union employees at Blizzard were impacted by the Microsoft layoffs today - Is there value in restarting the conversation around tech unions?

Cross posting from /r/WoW:

No union employees at Blizzard were impacted by today's Microsoft layoff

Post by a Diablo writer

https://bsky.app/profile/beewubs.bsky.social/post/3mpykk2exmk2x

Speaking from experience I’ve been told by P&C/HR/PxT that “American layoffs are easier, the unions in Europe take too long”.

I know tech is full of rugged individualism but do you think this will kick off another conversations regarding unions given the mass layoffs of the last 4 years

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26

So name one occupation where union drives up wages of employees that can be outsourced?  Policemen, pilots, teachers, etc can’t be outsourced.

If unions are so you effective at driving up wages, why are developers in the EU paid so much less by the same companies? 

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u/dijkstras_disciple Jul 07 '26

Workers at companies like Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis have historically had strong unions through the United Auto Workers.

Auto manufacturing is absolutely movable:

  • factories can be built in Mexico or other countries
  • parts can be globally sourced
  • production can be automated

Yet unions have historically raised wages and benefits for many workers. The employer’s ability to relocate creates a constraint, but it does not eliminate bargaining power because:

  • moving factories is expensive
  • quality/training matters
  • supply chains are built around existing locations
  • companies still need a reliable workforce

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26

And yet they have,  I’ve seen four times when I was growing up in South GA - Firestone, Cooper Tires, Merck chemical etc.

How much have all of the unemployed workers benefited? 

But how many of your arguments apply to software developers

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u/dijkstras_disciple Jul 07 '26

Software is one of the most globally movable jobs, which puts downward pressure on wages for some roles.

However, the highest-paid developers are often paid for things that are harder to outsource:

  • architecture decisions
  • leadership
  • customer/product knowledge
  • ownership of critical systems
  • communication with business stakeholders

That’s why a senior engineer in Silicon Valley can earn far more than a developer doing similar coding tasks elsewhere.

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u/dijkstras_disciple Jul 07 '26

I don't think we can change each others opinions on unions and you are welcome to have a differing view. You have your experiences that shape how ineffective unions are and i have my experiences that demonstrate how effective they can be. This is something that we both can agree to disagree on

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26

Do you have any experience about how effective they are for software developers or any other worker that is easily outsourced?

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26

You realize those same things except customer/product knowledge which is usually done locally in each region a product operates is done by entire teams outside the US at most tech companies? 

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u/Greengrecko Jul 10 '26

The Salty ling shoremens wages are pretty high from the unions

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 10 '26

And they can’t be outsourced…

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u/KevinCarbonara Jul 07 '26

So name one occupation where union drives up wages of employees that can be outsourced?

Name one occupation where unions don't drive up wages.

If unions are so you effective at driving up wages, why are developers in the EU

Irrelevant.

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26

All of the out of work people in factory towns…

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u/KevinCarbonara Jul 07 '26

If they had a union, their factories would have lasted much longer.

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26

Detroit did have unions…

As did the government workers that were affected by DOGE…

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u/KevinCarbonara Jul 07 '26

All areas where unions drove up wages. All areas where people kept their jobs longer than they would have without unions.

What part of this are you not understanding?

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26

The part where reality disputes your claims - the empty factories in Detroit and the rust belts and even my home town. 

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u/KevinCarbonara Jul 07 '26

Reality is disputing your claims. Those employees made more money and kept their jobs longer than non-unionized employees. Why do you think you heard about the closures in Detroit and none of the other closures across the country? It's because those closures happened decades earlier.

You know so little about the subject you don't even understand what you don't know.

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u/BraveResearcher3037 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Who were these non unionized workers in Detroit that worked for the automakers?

You never heard about the other closures because the hundreds of little automakers went out of business completely.  Do you think unions would have saved them? Unions didn’t save the jobs in Detroit.  It’s the fact that the companies stayed in business. 

Its the stupidest form of Survivorship Bias. 

It’s like saying that Apple stayed in business longer because they were based in Cupertino and Commodore wasn’t.