Hey, n00b, we didn't hire you to complete tasks

Why Companies Hire Juniors

• Some argue most companies hire juniors mainly to execute “junior-level” tasks, not as a long-term investment.
• Others say they’ve only seen juniors hired for long-term potential, with no real backlog of “junior-only” work; seniors could always do the tasks faster.
• Historically, some companies explicitly hired to train juniors with long vesting stock options; several commenters say this is now rarer.

A/B/C Categorization and Its Value

• Many dislike the article’s A/B/C framing as reductionist, ego-driven, or “toxic game-playing” rather than team-building.
• Some see value in the concrete behavioral signals as a career roadmap, especially around communication, initiative, and impact beyond tickets.
• There’s concern that stereotyping people as “C” can become self-fulfilling and hurt morale and retention.

Mentorship, Leadership, and Culture

• Several see the described attitude (“spend as little effort as possible on people who won’t make it”) as a failure of leadership.
• Others note that constrained mentoring time, agile metrics, and story-point pressure push seniors to prioritize “self-starters.”
• Debate on whether seniors have an obligation to deliberately develop juniors versus focusing on output and weeding out weak performers.

Workload, Effort, and “A Player” Myths

• One camp claims “A” performance mostly comes from extra hours and effort; time management rhetoric is seen as cover for overwork.
• Others strongly counter that effectiveness comes from better choices: prioritization, saying no, not over-automating, and knowing when to ask for help.
• Some note that people who work very long hours are often less effective and more error-prone.

Mistakes, Blame, and Process

• Several criticize framing junior mistakes as “causing unreasonable work” rather than shared ownership and better guardrails.
• Some push for no-blame or systems-oriented cultures; others warn that erasing individual accountability can stall growth and create bureaucracy.
• Breaking production once is seen as normal; repeating the same mistake is not.

Impact of AI/LLMs on Junior Roles

• Some argue LLMs make junior-style tasks cheap, weakening the business case for hiring juniors.
• Others report that AI amplifies differences: strong juniors get better; weak ones get lost in hallucinations, sometimes burning more review time.