but I would certainly not work with a company who would require me to do part of the job for free.
If I'm hired as a React developer to implement a set of business requirements, they are hiring me to learn and implement the business requirements. They are not hiring me to learn React. If they hired me with the knowledge that I'm not a seasoned React developer, the expectation is that they will not be expecting me to charge them for my learning React as billable time. How is that unfair? My React skills increase my marketability and I'm investing in myself by learning it.
If a person is not willing to sacrifice to learn skills on their own time, software development is not the field they should be in.
I was replying for the situation that you mentioned of full time employees, with contracting I think we both agree.
> If a person is not willing to sacrifice to learn skills on their own time
That's what I mean exactly. They might not have free time! That's why you're supposed to work 40h/week and any extra is a plus, not a requirement. The same argument could be applied to any field, so should someone without free time just not work? That's why it's unfair to require that employees spend large chunks of their free time to learn how to do the company's job.
There are many companies that do care about their employees and let them learn during work time or even teach them themselves! I believe those are some of the best companies around the globe as well (;
Sure a company that is still writing software that is based on their tech stack would be more than willing to make sure that you know that. But what happens when the tech stack they are using becomes outdated?
If I'm hired as a React developer to implement a set of business requirements, they are hiring me to learn and implement the business requirements. They are not hiring me to learn React. If they hired me with the knowledge that I'm not a seasoned React developer, the expectation is that they will not be expecting me to charge them for my learning React as billable time. How is that unfair? My React skills increase my marketability and I'm investing in myself by learning it.
If a person is not willing to sacrifice to learn skills on their own time, software development is not the field they should be in.