In my 20 years of IT, I've worked for a health insurance company (during the height of the 2008 debates), a defense contractor (I only made software licensing servers for them, but we still got e-mails about what bills we should support), multiple telecom companies, two governments, a news agency, a debt collection firm, a shoe shop, a University, etc.
I don't think I've ever been asked to do anything illegal (to my knowledge) but I've seen tons of things that have been very unethical. No matter what field you are in, if you open your eyes, you'll see what your company does to stay on top, how their lawyers will stretch things and often settle out of court, and how your industry will lobby for laws that do not protect consumers. I've only written about health care because I think that was the most blatant and currently affects the most people:
You should always leave if you're asked to do something illegal (and luckily that's never happened to me), but even if your company isn't an Uber or Wal-Mart, they're probably still doing something questionable, even if it's just to compete with the bigger players. It is a reality we have to deal with.
I'll say my favourite position was probably the University. I enjoyed working for a place that, although paid a lot less, was less about a product and more about supporting the staff, faculty and students. Don't get me wrong, I still saw a lot of problems and money wasted on stupid stuff, but overall it was a good, non-morally objectionable work environment.
I work at university now and agree. I worked as an IT person and a compliance person at a bak as well. Was never asked to do anything illegal or unethical.
I have known people that do bookkeeping who see transactions that give them pause. Family trips written off as business trips and things like that.
I don't think I've ever been asked to do anything illegal (to my knowledge) but I've seen tons of things that have been very unethical. No matter what field you are in, if you open your eyes, you'll see what your company does to stay on top, how their lawyers will stretch things and often settle out of court, and how your industry will lobby for laws that do not protect consumers. I've only written about health care because I think that was the most blatant and currently affects the most people:
http://fightthefuture.org/article/returning-to-america-and-t...
You should always leave if you're asked to do something illegal (and luckily that's never happened to me), but even if your company isn't an Uber or Wal-Mart, they're probably still doing something questionable, even if it's just to compete with the bigger players. It is a reality we have to deal with.
I'll say my favourite position was probably the University. I enjoyed working for a place that, although paid a lot less, was less about a product and more about supporting the staff, faculty and students. Don't get me wrong, I still saw a lot of problems and money wasted on stupid stuff, but overall it was a good, non-morally objectionable work environment.