I mean that the outrage at Uber for this is what is ridiculous. Maybe not the story, or even the lawsuit (I understand the family seeking compensation for something like this), but the vitriol directed in Uber's direction for this seems more to do with their place as the current evil tech boogeyman more than anything else.
It was his decision to live in a HCOL area, from what I read his family was encouraging him to quit the job and decompress but he refused to listen. My point is that this sounds like a psychologically compromised and severely depressed man who ended up committing suicide. I'm sure a big part of that was because of his job. But I'm not sure that this ipso facto means Uber should be the subject of our ire.
And to be clear, I'm bearish on Uber, and frankly I usually enjoy the Uber schadenfreude that gets posted here recently. I just don't think this particular instance has much merit, it's just more ammo for the Uber = The Devil bandwagon jumpers.
>>> "Before his death, Thomas expressed both to his father and wife that he felt immense pressure and stress to the point where he was scared he would lose his job. In meetings with a psychiatrist, Thomas told the doctor he was experiencing panic attacks, trouble concentrating, and debilitating anxiety. Everyone instructed him to leave his job, but he was adamant that he could not.
“He was always the smartest guy in the room,” said his father, Joe Thomas. But while working at Uber, “he went down the tubes. He became someone with very little confidence in himself. The guy just fell apart.”
His wife added, “It’s hard to explain, but he wasn’t himself at all. He’d say things like, ‘My boss doesn’t like me.’ His personality changed totally; he was horribly concerned about his work, to the point it was almost unbelievable. He was saying he couldn’t do anything right.” "
I think Uber is currently a lightning rod for everything that's wrong with technical employers, especially in the USA. I think there is a great deal of simmering rage against the widespread mistreatment of engineers, and Uber has, in a sense, become the monster that has the villagers getting out their torches and pitchforks.
It was his decision to live in a HCOL area, from what I read his family was encouraging him to quit the job and decompress but he refused to listen. My point is that this sounds like a psychologically compromised and severely depressed man who ended up committing suicide. I'm sure a big part of that was because of his job. But I'm not sure that this ipso facto means Uber should be the subject of our ire.
And to be clear, I'm bearish on Uber, and frankly I usually enjoy the Uber schadenfreude that gets posted here recently. I just don't think this particular instance has much merit, it's just more ammo for the Uber = The Devil bandwagon jumpers.
>>> "Before his death, Thomas expressed both to his father and wife that he felt immense pressure and stress to the point where he was scared he would lose his job. In meetings with a psychiatrist, Thomas told the doctor he was experiencing panic attacks, trouble concentrating, and debilitating anxiety. Everyone instructed him to leave his job, but he was adamant that he could not.
“He was always the smartest guy in the room,” said his father, Joe Thomas. But while working at Uber, “he went down the tubes. He became someone with very little confidence in himself. The guy just fell apart.”
His wife added, “It’s hard to explain, but he wasn’t himself at all. He’d say things like, ‘My boss doesn’t like me.’ His personality changed totally; he was horribly concerned about his work, to the point it was almost unbelievable. He was saying he couldn’t do anything right.” "