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And I love the counterpoint: > "We hire truckers," Seltz-Axmacher tells prospective drivers right before offering them a job. "But we also have a lot of engine
by LeifCarrotson 9y ago
And I love the counterpoint:
> "We hire truckers," Seltz-Axmacher tells prospective drivers right before offering them a job. "But we also have a lot of engineers in Silicon Valley. Everything you’ve heard about San Francisco—it’s all basically true. There is something called raw denim, and in San Francisco people wear it, which means that some of your colleagues will pay up to $300 for a pair of blue jeans. They sometimes drink $7 lattes, too. Many of your co-workers will not be from the U.S. They will have accents. Can you handle that?"
In my experience, the culture clash seems to me to be more common in technology companies doing hardware projects than in hardware companies adding software to their processes. As a member of the latter, I take exception to this statement:
> “We basically have people from two worlds, neither of which has ever talked to each other,” says Seltz-Axmacher, who grew up in suburban Maryland. “That’s kind of what’s wrong with this country.”
Perhaps that's true of the founder's life experience, or true of the trucking industry, but most manufacturing jobs seem to be merging these cultures comparatively smoothly. I've been at a couple companies in the automotive industry, and been to hundreds of different plants, and everywhere you look there are blue collar technicians running the machines and white collar engineers building and automating the machines. The situation is not so bad as the article paints it outside the extremes of Ivy League PHD programs contrasted with the trucking industry.
- rfrank 9y agoHah, you're definitely right (I work at an EMS provider). In the context of the piece it seems to me like they're more focused on SF type startups than places like where you or I work. I agree very much with: > ...culture clash seems to me to be more common in technology companies doing hardware projects than in hardware companies adding software to their processes.
- logfromblammo 9y agoI'm a software pro, not a trucker, and I have a problem with $300 jeans and $7 lattes. And what is all this I keep hearing about $20 avocado toast? The culture clash is Silicon Valley banging its own cymbals.
- rfrank 9y agoThe examples in the article are trite, but the culture clash is a very real thing. I would point to things like the acceptance of alcohol in the workplace, expectations around work/home balance, the comparatively uniform social/political views of SF tech workers (and educational backgrounds), etc.
- lhuser123 9y ago> Perhaps that's true of the founder's life experience, ... That's what I was thinking. They might be exaggerating a little bit the difference in culture.
- Animats 9y agoEverybody in heavy industry encounters this. There's a whole range of skill levels and backgrounds in an industrial plant. I'm surprised they don't send their engineers through a truck driving course, and have them get a CDL. If you're going to work on self-driving truck software, you need to be able to drive a truck. At least get a Commercial Learners Permit.