> For example, suppose an engineer who is paid $200k per year can spend a week to implement an optimization that reduces costs by 0.1%. If that is 0.1% of something that costs $50 million per year, then that's not a bad use of time.
Is it not? I don't know. I don't run a multi-million dollar business. So this is an honest question. 0.1% of $50 million is a meagre $50000. If someone is running a business that is spending $50 million per year on something, are they really going to care about a small $50k saving per yera?
Re:Minify and Gzip (2022)
by fiprofessor on Monday July 17, 2023 @11:36AM
(#36759504)
Well, it's not worth it to bring this optimization to the attention of the CEO. But it definitely exceeds the engineer's weekly cost by a lot, so if it only takes a week, it's potentially worth it (modulo opportunity costs for other things to work on).
Spin it around: is it worth it for a sales person who makes $200k per year to spend a week to land a $50,000 per year contract? I think it potentially is, for the same reason, even if the organization as whole makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Re:Minify and Gzip (2022)
by thomastjeffery on Monday July 17, 2023 @12:48PM
(#36760555)
Your example is starting with absolute arithmetic, and sticking with it. There is no change.
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For example, suppose an engineer who is paid $200k per year can spend a week to implement an optimization that reduces costs by 0.1%. If that is 0.1% of something that costs $50 million per year, then that's not a bad use of time.