Techies get treated well probably equals higher employee retention, again leading to higher institutional memory, meaning bugs have a chance of actually getting fixed. More happiness probably also correlates with more creativity, meaning that there is also a chance of getting more features with updates.

Some people like to reward ethical companies. Most hackers I know are among them

I interpreted it as equivalent to “Fair Trade” or “Free Range” labels you sometimes see on groceries.

People may prefer to buy it, for that reason.

That statement also struck me -- it's not like "techies" are normally treated unfavorably?

"Normally" would be overstating the problem I think, but it's not as though toxic work environments where people are expected to work unsustainably long hours are exactly uncommon in the tech sector.

Parent asked about relevance. It's relevant if some people have worries about treatment of techies. Should people have these concerns? Dunno, but probably off-topic for this post :)