Trouble reconciling (potentially) working at a problematic company
I unfortunately got laid off at the start of last month, and I'm just starting to get my feet wet with applying. As usual, I'm beginning by applying to roles I don't care too much about for interview practice, but I know I should also be prepared to take anything I can get if the market is looking grim (which it honestly is. Being at my last role for only 7 months doesn't help either).
As part of my initial spam of applications I applied to a large company that has been in the news time and time again for helping ICE and the US Military, mostly as a joke & for the practice. They have a high bar so I didn't even expect to hear back. But lo and behold, of the hundreds of applications I've sent out this week, this company is one of only 3 places that has given me a chance so far...
Realistically I probably won't pass the interviews, but it got me thinking. I pride myself on putting my morals above money, but I'm not sure if that math works out when I'm laid off and will eventually need money for rent, and health insurance for my many conditions & specialists when the COBRA runs out. Most of my friends & family are also very socially progressive and they would honestly stop talking to me if I worked at a place that had that level of negative press, regardless of the need for money; I've seen it happen to other friends who caved and began working for defense companies etc.
Have any of you been in this situation? I also recognize that pretty much every large company has done unethical stuff (Azure/AWS/GCP hosting for the IDF, Amazon running on the backs of their abused workers, Meta/TikTok addicting millions of children and teens to social media slop, Anthropic/OpenAI being used by the government for planning attacks on Iran, etc etc) but I guess I mean more places where their ONLY reputation is the bad they have done. Would you work at a place like that if it came to it & needed the money, even if you knew you'd lose all your friends, some family, and also feel terrible going to work every day?