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Funny, his post seems like a barely toxic environment to me. But then, here are things that have happened to me in the defense industry across several different
by engi_nerd 11y ago
Funny, his post seems like a barely toxic environment to me. But then, here are things that have happened to me in the defense industry across several different jobs...
* Being asked to bill to one project while working on another; both projects were for the US government. Mischarging on contracts is illegal, immoral, and unethical, and I refused to do it. Later that day my boss pulled me into the office and gave me the old "Well we don't want to fire you but we might have to if your attitude doesn't improve" speech. I asked if this speech was related to my refusal to mischarge labor. The answer: "Yes, absolutely."
* During the Fall 2013 US government shutdown, I was on travel. The contractor I was working for told me to keep working. Everyone else at the home facility was furloughed. I kept working and kept getting paid. The company gave all employees a $2500 Christmas bonus for "staying loyal" to the company. Except those of us on travel, because we had not had to lose any salary. Okay, fine. But later on the company did return the leave that people took during the furlough. So, effectively, everyone else got a paid vacation from work PLUS a $2500 bonus and I got neither.
* Regularly cursed at by aircraft crew chiefs when I ask for access to perform inspections. I have been told, "Fuck you, we don't need your shit to fly, get the fuck out of here." Funny, the flight clearances say my system has to work!
* Yelled at by a very senior manager because I did not make a significant engineering change based on a poorly worded post-it note. I had asked the note's author for email clarification and formal documentation of the change. The author refused. I notified my managers -- including the manager who yelled at me -- of the situation. They promised to take action but did nothing. Uncertain of how to proceed, I kept raising the issue at status meetings but was ignored. The failure to take action on this almost cost us a launch opportunity.
And I have many more stories of similar things. But I think I have it good compared to huge numbers of people.
I don't think the OP, or many of the posters on this board, realize just how good you have it.
- mooreds 11y ago> I don't think the OP, or many of the posters on this board, realize just how good you have it. Agreed. Being an in-demand software engineer is a gift, and I am grateful every day that I stumbled into this career. On the flip side, maybe you don't realize how bad you have it :) .
- engi_nerd 11y agoNo, I'm pretty aware of how bad my working conditions are relative to, say, some of my friends who work at Apple or Facebook. Things regularly happen in my world that would top anything the OP has posted about. I hate to engage in one-upmanship, but this post just seemed very silly to me.
- mooreds 11y ago> I'm pretty aware of how bad my working conditions are relative to, say, some of my friends who work at Apple or Facebook. May I ask why you stay in your current working conditions then? Are you doing work you consider to be really important? Challenging? Lucrative? Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Are you able to make suggestions to improve the conditions for yourself and others? Are you locked in because of external concerns (location, family needs, etc)? No job is perfect (they call it "work" for a reason) but I am curious why you'd stay at a job that is so tough.
- engi_nerd 11y agoI should note that only one of the stories I told is from my current job (being cursed at by crew chiefs). The others are from my last job, which I left in 2014. I'm beginning to ask myself the same questions. Partly I am locked in due to family concerns. My wife and I have moved 3 times in 4 years of marriage and we're both tired of moving (Each of us also moved a couple of times in the two years immediately before becoming a couple, so we are very tired of moving). We've just had a baby so stability is paramount. Therefore I don't want to leave this general area. But, this is a very large testing/research base, so there is other employment available. The work I am doing is important, to me, but not particularly challenging. It is very lucrative. And my suggestions are taken seriously. I pretty much determine what I do on a day to day basis. So it's not as bad as it could be. I do have agency here. But I'm also a little bored.
- mooreds 11y agoThanks for the illumination. I get desiring stability. Good luck to ya!