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> While at the same time, people who come in as "headline" hires from external are given not nearly such scrutiny and instead get $Ms and hiring bonuses and dir

> While at the same time, people who come in as "headline" hires from external are given not nearly such scrutiny and instead get $Ms and hiring bonuses and directorships… Strict standards for the masses, bonuses for the leadership. The is the natural consequence of commoditization. If you are rank-and-file engineer #8430, you're a commodity. You've molded your skillset into a specific shape that fits into a particular hole, and as a result you get options. You get security. Because there are lots of engineer-shaped holes at lots of companies. Unfortunately, there are lots of engineer-shaped people. You can be easily replaced by someone with a similar skillset. So why pay you more and more, when if you quit, it's no big deal? Supply and demand at work. These "headline" hires are different. They have rarer skillsets that are harder to come by. They're harder to hire, harder to replace, and often require poaching. Demand for them is high, because supply is low. Of course they're going to get paid more, and of course those deals are going to involve more flexibility and negotiation. For the same reason you see lots of negotiation during the purchases of cars/houses/etc, but not buying paperclips/cereal/other commodities at the store. This is just markets at work. I think the mistake is assuming that just because you exist in the same company as someone else, your role in the market is (or should be) identical.

supernova87a 5y ago
Some of what you say is true. But lately, it feels like one of the skills of management hires is simply being able to talk like you know how to do the job. And when they then get in the company, turns out they have no better idea / skills to change what we do than anyone internally. But they just got paid 3x to join and find that out. But hey, maybe that's the game. And maybe the dumber companies are getting hoodwinked. Join the game I guess and make out like a bandit while the getting is good then.
- csallen 5y ago
  I see stories regularly of engineers who know very little, yet get hired and paid huge sums to fuck around for years and coast while staying under the radar. It happens at every level. It's turtles all the way down.

supernova87a 5y ago

Some of what you say is true. But lately, it feels like one of the skills of management hires is simply being able to talk like you know how to do the job. And when they then get in the company, turns out they have no better idea / skills to change what we do than anyone internally. But they just got paid 3x to join and find that out. But hey, maybe that's the game. And maybe the dumber companies are getting hoodwinked. Join the game I guess and make out like a bandit while the getting is good then.

csallen 5y ago
I see stories regularly of engineers who know very little, yet get hired and paid huge sums to fuck around for years and coast while staying under the radar. It happens at every level. It's turtles all the way down.