Re:The Boring Part of Bell Labs
by ThrowawayR2 on Sunday November 23, 2025 @01:27PM
(#46026007)
> "I wonder why companies don’t do this anymore."
Because we're not in the gargantuan post-WW2 economic boom combined with the electronics-ization / mainframe computerization tech boom anymore. It's easy to treat employees generously when revenue growth just keeps happening almost on its own.
And STEM degrees or even possessing any undergraduate degree was much less common than they are today. The article says "Over 130 people signed up for the One Year On Campus program in 1970.", which is a pittance in a corporation with over a million employees at its peak. Unsurprisingly, people who specialties make them more difficult to replace get treated more favorably.
Because we're not in the gargantuan post-WW2 economic boom combined with the electronics-ization / mainframe computerization tech boom anymore. It's easy to treat employees generously when revenue growth just keeps happening almost on its own.
And STEM degrees or even possessing any undergraduate degree was much less common than they are today. The article says "Over 130 people signed up for the One Year On Campus program in 1970.", which is a pittance in a corporation with over a million employees at its peak. Unsurprisingly, people who specialties make them more difficult to replace get treated more favorably.