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> a software engineer in tech is the best job security you can get Can you explain this? Anywhere I have ever worked (Fortune 500 orgs) I have always had an "a

> a software engineer in tech is the best job security you can get Can you explain this? Anywhere I have ever worked (Fortune 500 orgs) I have always had an "at will" employment contract as a W-2 employee. They can fire me at any time for any reason. Furthermore, when budgets are cut typically the first group to go is the IT department, since they do not bring in any revenue, unless the company is selling IT products and services.

henrik_w 6y ago
I think there is a difference between working at a company where software is the product, vs a company where software only supports the main product (i.e. an IT department). Companies where SW is the product value developers more I think.
- curiousllama 6y ago
  Definitely. When an engineer is part of the “front office,” they’re valued and paid. When they’re part of the “back office,” they’re commoditized. Has much less to do with software than strategy: maximize core competencies and minimize overhead.
- vikramkr 6y ago
  From a management perspective a company where software is not the product makes the software team is what's called a cost center. And companies love cutting costs. At a company where software is the product, the software team would be treated more as a profit center. In general, you want to be in a profit center, not a cost center. Hell, half our homework in accounting 102 was problem sets calculating if it was economically beneficial to outsource a given cost center - even at the most basic level cost centers are places that people want to cut.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
  > Companies where SW is the product value developers more I think. And the IT budgets are different. Very different. On a related note, remember when some organizations had IT (and specifically web dev) under their marketing departments?
skinnymuch 6y ago
The “in tech” part I think was meant to say in technology/IT focused companies.
hellisothers 6y ago
In case the OP doesn’t reply my interpretation is there is way more demand than supply so sure you’re “at will” but you could find another job quickly. As for fortune-500 and IT layoffs I imagine we are talking here about technology companies for which “IT” isn’t a line item to be cut but _is_ the business. Rules may be different at BestBuy or Bank of America but I bet not by much.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
  This. I haven’t been out of work as a developer in 28 years. And I’m definitely not in the top 5% of developers skill or intelligence-wise.
stx 6y ago
I am not the person you are replying to but I would imagine they mean "job security" as in if you get fired you can find another pretty quickly.
bitwize 6y ago
Oh, that's nothing to worry about. Any halfway decent software engineer who gets fired on Thursday should be able to just waltz into a new job the following Tuesday. I keep reading that on Hackernews, so it must be true!

henrik_w 6y ago

I think there is a difference between working at a company where software is the product, vs a company where software only supports the main product (i.e. an IT department). Companies where SW is the product value developers more I think.

curiousllama 6y ago
Definitely. When an engineer is part of the “front office,” they’re valued and paid. When they’re part of the “back office,” they’re commoditized. Has much less to do with software than strategy: maximize core competencies and minimize overhead.
vikramkr 6y ago
From a management perspective a company where software is not the product makes the software team is what's called a cost center. And companies love cutting costs. At a company where software is the product, the software team would be treated more as a profit center. In general, you want to be in a profit center, not a cost center. Hell, half our homework in accounting 102 was problem sets calculating if it was economically beneficial to outsource a given cost center - even at the most basic level cost centers are places that people want to cut.
TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
> Companies where SW is the product value developers more I think. And the IT budgets are different. Very different. On a related note, remember when some organizations had IT (and specifically web dev) under their marketing departments?

skinnymuch 6y ago

The “in tech” part I think was meant to say in technology/IT focused companies.

hellisothers 6y ago

In case the OP doesn’t reply my interpretation is there is way more demand than supply so sure you’re “at will” but you could find another job quickly. As for fortune-500 and IT layoffs I imagine we are talking here about technology companies for which “IT” isn’t a line item to be cut but _is_ the business. Rules may be different at BestBuy or Bank of America but I bet not by much.

TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
This. I haven’t been out of work as a developer in 28 years. And I’m definitely not in the top 5% of developers skill or intelligence-wise.

stx 6y ago

I am not the person you are replying to but I would imagine they mean "job security" as in if you get fired you can find another pretty quickly.

bitwize 6y ago

Oh, that's nothing to worry about. Any halfway decent software engineer who gets fired on Thursday should be able to just waltz into a new job the following Tuesday. I keep reading that on Hackernews, so it must be true!