While unemployment and underemployment in Silicon Valley is at record highs, Facebook at least is still hiring.
And two Facebook employees -- Soleio, a designer, and Putnam, an engineer -- are to be believed, the operator of the world's most self-important social network is a magical place where you can change the world with only a couple of days worth of work.
Of course, by "change the world," they mean "let you send videos to your friends online," something which you could do long before Facebook, but hey, these are geeks, not historians.
To be fair, Putnam does do a dead-on impression of cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
What perks do Facebookers enjoy?
Well, three weeks of paid vacation, for starters; you'll never have to learn to do your own laundry thanks to a free laundry drop-off service; nor will you have to learn to cook, with three free meals a day -- for lunch Tuesday, the Facebook Cafe served Spanish-style oxtails braised with chorizo (or a soyrizo frittata for the vegetarians).
Basically, at Facebook, you never have to actually grow up.
It sounds like a delicious opportunity. But in reality, only if you're an engineer or manager. Customer service representatives? They made $18.75 an hour in 2008. Which sounds good, until you check out Palo Alto real-estate prices.
Jackson West knows folks who work at Facebook, and they are decent people, but the company still creeps him out a bit.
