Ask HN: Why do people work at evil megacorps?

I really do believe the old wivetales that everyone can be bought (Whether it be by money, power, or with fear). it's just there are some people out there willing to accept a pat on the back by those with power thinking they can avoid fear. For them its better to be a passenger on the train heading toward oblivion, then tied to its track. Then there are the egotists, who think they can work there way into a position or power, instead of remaining a cog. Finally there are those naive enough who think that miracles occur all the time, and they alone can enact some change in something already lost.

The truth is more banal: nearly nobody has even heard about which corporations a few noisy people think are "evil" and even fewer would care if they did. Ask yourself: how much revenue did Amazon pull in last year? Microsoft? Meta?

Don't mistake the blather on social media, including HN, for the real world.

Well its between financial comfort (making 400-500k), and a life of wage slavery. If I make enough, I can retire and do what I want in life. If I dont make enough, I will live the only time I have alive a slave

Being unemployed in a large expensive city where you have friends etc. is expensive and depressing.

I once burned through approximately $35K waiting for the right job to come along out of moral conviction during my first experience of tough financial times.

You might think "no problem" but it will massively delay how early you can get a mortgage and significantly reduce your pension pot.

Also you know what? Most people you know who you think would judge you would and most likely will take jobs for morally questionable companies at some point.

Every large company and most small companies are evil, it is really hard to avoid them all. What about government work? The government is for sure evil, just look at how they spy on everyone, so that is off the table as well. What about other government agencies that doesn't spy? Well, that is like working at other departments of a company, you are evil by association even if your work isn't evil.

I honestly believe that parents have somewhat of a duty to work whatever job will provide their children the best outcome in life. I worked at some evil companies (ultimately left, eventually) that paid amazingly, and the workers (parents) who worked their asses off there? Can't blame them one bit.

The evil megacorps tend to pay more and have good benefits. But they will downsize in a hurry when they lose profits. I had a friend who worked at Microsoft for 10 years and they laid him off. I have friends who went to California Silicon Valley and it ate them up and they burned out. Just a job they see.

Follow the money, Lebowski

You mean it isn't the evil aspect that attracts them to the companies in the first place?

What are the people who are seeking out evil supposed to do?

What other kind of megacorps would you want anyway?