The Disconnect Between Engineers and Value Creation
Several commenters express frustration with the difficulty of delivering meaningful value in large organizations, often attributing this to factors like excessive specialization, ineffective product management, and misaligned incentives.
- "In the last ten years (and even in the 20-people HN startups), the day to day work of engineers has become so incredibly specialised and divorced from the needs of decision-makers and the customers that there is almost nothing I can do to influence whether someone views me as doing my job or not. Mainly because of the presence of Product Managers that insert themselves between engineers and the rest of the company." - whstl
- "I'm always interested in delivering value, but the fight necessary to actually do so has become stressful. It's no longer a collaboration, all my contributions must be filtered through the ego of the person speaking to decision-makers." - whstl
- "My people (engineers) want to achieve their goals and create value, and the higher-ups want working software making money. I don't see why this has become so hard to achieve." - whstl
- "Because it’s easier to create chaos for some people than it is to actually do what they are supposed to do." - lazide
The Allure (and Peril) of "Stagnant" Big Tech Roles
A contrasting viewpoint emerges, suggesting that comfortable, well-compensated but potentially unchallenging roles in large tech companies can be a viable and even desirable strategy, particularly for those prioritizing work-life balance and financial security. However, the long-term implications of such a career path, especially regarding future employability, are debated.
- "Say you're like an L-whatever at one of these big tech companies and you bring home say $300k/yr. You don't live in a HCOL so the pay is astronomical compared to anywhere else and even if you work on the same boring project for 10 years there, you can still say you spent 10 years working at MS or Google and that would get you red carpet treatment just about anywhere." - _fat_santa
- "Now that I'm older I care way more about my family and friends than I do my company. If I was at one of these big tech companies and someone told me I was stagnant and would never get prompted I would just tell them so what. I bring home $300k for my family and I have a good work life balance (most likely)." - _fat_santa
- "At least the pay is alright." - whstl
- "I took home $300k for doing nothing and then got laid off" -pydry
- "If you get laid off from one of these places the next place doesn't know that you took 300k home to do jack, all they know is you worked for a super prestigious company for 10 years and you can plausibly make up the rest about what you actually did there." - _fat_santa
Ethics and Job Security
The discussion regarding the potential to embellish one's accomplishments at large tech companies upon seeking new employment raises ethical concerns, with some commenters firmly against dishonesty and others acknowledging it as a pragmatic strategy. The ability to successfully "fake it" is also questioned, especially in smaller, more demanding environments.
- "I would never do this, and if you would do this I wouldn't want to work with you. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I sleep alright." - yawgmoth.
- "What about actually accomplishing some things over 10 years while maintaining good work life balance?" - chausen
- "This becomes quickly apparent in a smaller company or if you have a manager that knows what they are doing. You'll get hired, if you pass the technical interviews, but if you cannot contribute at the level they hired you, you'll be exited and that will be suspicious for your next application." - masom
- "Chances are high anyone to corroborate was laid off and does the same thing anyway lol" - babyent
- "If you're going to lie about experience anyways, you don't have to work for the FAANG company in the first place." - ImPostingOnHN
Product Management's Role and Accountability
Several commenters criticize the role of product managers, viewing them as a bottleneck that hinders engineers' ability to directly contribute value and understand customer needs. There's a call for greater accountability among product managers.
- "Mainly because of the presence of Product Managers that insert themselves between engineers and the rest of the company." - whstl
- "Or at least hold them accountable for failing to get things done and communicating badly with developers. Which is something that I'm yet to see." - whstl
- "How do the evade accountability so often and so deeply? It's bizarre." - switch007
- "By shielding decision-makers/customers and engineers." - whstl
The Challenges of Advocating for Value
The discussion highlights the difficulty in advocating for work that might not be immediately visible or directly tied to revenue but is crucial for long-term stability and cost savings, such as maintenance or preventing future incidents. Navigating internal politics and conflicting priorities is also a recurring theme.
- "You're right, but this assumes that the execs have the insight to see that maintenance tasks save money. If preventing next year's incident isn't understood as being as valuable as doing the hero work to untangle this year's incident then it can be hellish unless you like hero work." - dcminter
- "...Speaking from experience, you'll be surrounded by more enemies in your day-to-day when the side effect of your customer obsession negatively impacts the KPI's that are used to stack rank your direct management chain against other teams and managers. it is quite kafkaesque to be treated as the black sheep after you save $10m a year for the org, then get a pay decrease + meets expectations 8 months later." - lazystar
- "I had to "skip rank" a few times and go directly to CEOs. They are appreciative when you provide concrete facts, such as "I worked for two weeks on the redesign of this page that zero people use and I'm frankly tired of this bullshit"." - whstl