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I find it so interesting how different "tech" companies and "industrial" companies are from each other (apparently engineers who work in the industry such as OE

I find it so interesting how different "tech" companies and "industrial" companies are from each other (apparently engineers who work in the industry such as OEMs are not really "tech" from what I read in the media, shrug). I worked from startup (that was working on only hardware) to multi-billion "life-style" companies, and I never hangout with my coworkers after work, let alone beer-bashes. I have a coworker who won't even come to free Christmas lunches. It's just expected where we can talk and joke during work, but when it comes to personal time, its personal. Also as a MechE, people tend to listen to you more when you're more experienced (typically older), not the other way around. People I work with understand while dreams are important, it does not feed your family. I really want to get into the software side of things but the culture from what I read is almost repulsive...

i_dont_know_ 9y ago
Would you say, then, that the industrial world is more "formal" for lack of a better word? Or maybe just more realistic in your opinion?
- syntaxing 9y ago
  I think the industrial world is definitely more formal (corporate?) with good reasons. It's extremely hard to sustain a certain profit or product without a proper organization. Engineering in the industrial world is definitely less exciting since there's a lot of red tape. Convincing the department I work for to spend around $10K for a couple 3D printers took forever. Where when I was at the startup it was more of a "why not" mentality as long we had funding. However, the benefit for working in the industry is that there is a lot less circle jerking on the engineering side of things. When you're working at a startup, there is so much circle jerking and smoky mirrors to get funding and please investors. I sat in during a board of directors meeting and I physically wanted to puke listening to all the BS going around in the room.
notacoward 9y ago
Almost? ;) I think my Silicon Valley employer has a great culture in a lot of ways, but the whole "not just your employer but your whole world" attitude still bugs me. I also threw myself into work every waking moment when I was younger. I was also happy for my coworkers to be my primary social partners as well. Those were great years, but that kind of thing stops working once you have a family. Treating people with families as exceptions to the overall company culture - even if they're pretty well tolerated exceptions - is ageist and not OK.
- syntaxing 9y ago
  I think the biggest reason for this is because Silicon Valley has an abundance of younger workers (relatively speaking). When you're young, you spend literally every moment working to strive for your ambitions. When I got older, I started to learn that every hour you spend at work is one less hour for you to spend on something meaningful to your personal life. At the end of the day, working long hours is just not worth it. There's literally nothing to show for it at the end of the day. You make less per hour. Your family hates you. And you have no personal life. The only people that really benefit from this mentality is the owners and investors and this is so unfair and toxic to the workers.
  - notacoward 9y ago
    Agreed. To be fair, though, this is neither new nor limited to Silicon Valley. The most severe case of this attitude that I've encountered during my career was in Ann Arbor thirty years ago. Exploitation of young workers, both high- and low-skill, goes back much further than that. At least I didn't live in a literal company town, or work in a literal sweat shop.
forgottenpass 9y ago
>apparently engineers who work in the industry such as OEMs are not really "tech" from what I read in the media, shrug And if someone works at one of the right companies which happen to use software, they're considered to be working in "tech" even if they don't know how to use their own computer. "Tech" is a business vertical when it's convenient to steal goodwill from the enabling nature of software. It's a job disciple when it's convenient to dump the baggage of that virtical's business decisions onto those damn nerds.

i_dont_know_ 9y ago

Would you say, then, that the industrial world is more "formal" for lack of a better word? Or maybe just more realistic in your opinion?

syntaxing 9y ago
I think the industrial world is definitely more formal (corporate?) with good reasons. It's extremely hard to sustain a certain profit or product without a proper organization. Engineering in the industrial world is definitely less exciting since there's a lot of red tape. Convincing the department I work for to spend around $10K for a couple 3D printers took forever. Where when I was at the startup it was more of a "why not" mentality as long we had funding. However, the benefit for working in the industry is that there is a lot less circle jerking on the engineering side of things. When you're working at a startup, there is so much circle jerking and smoky mirrors to get funding and please investors. I sat in during a board of directors meeting and I physically wanted to puke listening to all the BS going around in the room.

notacoward 9y ago

Almost? ;) I think my Silicon Valley employer has a great culture in a lot of ways, but the whole "not just your employer but your whole world" attitude still bugs me. I also threw myself into work every waking moment when I was younger. I was also happy for my coworkers to be my primary social partners as well. Those were great years, but that kind of thing stops working once you have a family. Treating people with families as exceptions to the overall company culture - even if they're pretty well tolerated exceptions - is ageist and not OK.

syntaxing 9y ago
I think the biggest reason for this is because Silicon Valley has an abundance of younger workers (relatively speaking). When you're young, you spend literally every moment working to strive for your ambitions. When I got older, I started to learn that every hour you spend at work is one less hour for you to spend on something meaningful to your personal life. At the end of the day, working long hours is just not worth it. There's literally nothing to show for it at the end of the day. You make less per hour. Your family hates you. And you have no personal life. The only people that really benefit from this mentality is the owners and investors and this is so unfair and toxic to the workers.
- notacoward 9y ago
  Agreed. To be fair, though, this is neither new nor limited to Silicon Valley. The most severe case of this attitude that I've encountered during my career was in Ann Arbor thirty years ago. Exploitation of young workers, both high- and low-skill, goes back much further than that. At least I didn't live in a literal company town, or work in a literal sweat shop.

forgottenpass 9y ago

>apparently engineers who work in the industry such as OEMs are not really "tech" from what I read in the media, shrug And if someone works at one of the right companies which happen to use software, they're considered to be working in "tech" even if they don't know how to use their own computer. "Tech" is a business vertical when it's convenient to steal goodwill from the enabling nature of software. It's a job disciple when it's convenient to dump the baggage of that virtical's business decisions onto those damn nerds.