5 ms·

> At least the pay is alright. I don't know why but this part of your comment really stuck out to me. I have a whole different take on getting stuff done speci

> At least the pay is alright. I don't know why but this part of your comment really stuck out to me. I have a whole different take on getting stuff done specifically at big tech companies, mainly that being "stagnant" is not such a bad thing at a place like Google or MS. Say you're like an L-whatever at one of these big tech companies and you bring home say $300k/yr. You don't live in a HCOL so the pay is astronomical compared to anywhere else and even if you work on the same boring project for 10 years there, you can still say you spent 10 years working at MS or Google and that would get you red carpet treatment just about anywhere. I'm sure this would bug a go-getter and would certainty bug a younger version of me, but if you're that kind of person you're most likely trying to work at a smaller company where you get more say and sway. And to add a bit more to this it's not like I don't care, it's just what I care about has changed over the years. When I was younger I was concerned with climbing the ladder and getting prompted. Now that I'm older I care way more about my family and friends than I do my company. If I was at one of these big tech companies and someone told me I was stagnant and would never get prompted I would just tell them so what. I bring home $300k for my family and I have a good work life balance (most likely). And do I really give a damn about the initiatives of some corporate behemoth, no and to be totally blunt the only thing I like about them is the paycheck and what it does for the rest of my life (all the free shit at the office is just a bonus).

pydry 1y ago
That sounds great if you can ride that into retirement but if you get laid off and you start having to justify your existence again in the job market I dont think "I took home $300k for doing nothing and then got laid off" is a great sell.
- _fat_santa 1y ago
  But that's kinda the beauty of it. If you get laid off from one of these places the next place doesn't know that you took 300k home to do jack, all they know is you worked for a super prestigious company for 10 years and you can plausibly make up the rest about what you actually did there.
  - yawgmoth 1y ago
    > you can plausibly make up the rest about what you actually did there. I would never do this, and if you would do this I wouldn't want to work with you. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I sleep alright.
    - chausen 1y ago
      What about actually accomplishing some things over 10 years while maintaining good work life balance?
      - whstl 1y ago
        That's the dream, but it requires either luck (to fall into a great company) or burning of political capital (plus luck).
    - dbalatero 1y ago
      It's not like the parent would have accomplished nothing in the 10 years. I think they are just talking about framing it in language palatable to the interviewer across the table.
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
        deleted 1y ago
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      - whstl 1y ago
        Even in the most dysfunctional organizations you can't spend 10 years doing nothing. GP was achieving what their bosses asked of them. It's just that it didn't align with their own professional goals of improving the product they work on.
        kunzhi 1y ago
- _ea1k 1y ago
  I don't think the point was literally doing nothing, but rather doing solid technical work with relatively low business value. This person could move on to do solid technical work with higher business value at a place that used their skills more effectively. The former isn't great, but it is a reality at many big companies.
johnnyanmac 1y ago
>you bring home say $300k/yr. You don't live in a HCOL Oh, I didn't know we were fantasizing about 2022. > you can still say you spent 10 years working at MS or Google and that would get you red carpet treatment just about anywhere. well, not in 2025. Market is rough and it's all topsy tuvrvy out there, with lots of companies pretending to hire but not. >If I was at one of these big tech companies and someone told me I was stagnant and would never get prompted I would just tell them so what. I bring home $300k for my family and I have a good work life balance Even tech isn't immune to "move up or move out". Google's had plenty of layoffs these past few years and that's an easy way for the gravy train to end. Hope you got plenty of savings.
- spacemadness 1y ago
  I don't think this world exists anymore. A lot of people I know are stressed out of their minds for the last few years by being way overworked and under constant threat of a layoff. I'm not talking about startups, I'm talking about Big Tech Corp. But I guess the mythical coasting engineer making a big tech salary that everyone talks about will never go out of style.
  - chipsrafferty 1y ago
    It definitely exists, but it's in the $120,000-$170,000 range
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]

pydry 1y ago

That sounds great if you can ride that into retirement but if you get laid off and you start having to justify your existence again in the job market I dont think "I took home $300k for doing nothing and then got laid off" is a great sell.

_fat_santa 1y ago
But that's kinda the beauty of it. If you get laid off from one of these places the next place doesn't know that you took 300k home to do jack, all they know is you worked for a super prestigious company for 10 years and you can plausibly make up the rest about what you actually did there.
- yawgmoth 1y ago
  > you can plausibly make up the rest about what you actually did there. I would never do this, and if you would do this I wouldn't want to work with you. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I sleep alright.
  - chausen 1y ago
    What about actually accomplishing some things over 10 years while maintaining good work life balance?
    - whstl 1y ago
      That's the dream, but it requires either luck (to fall into a great company) or burning of political capital (plus luck).
  - dbalatero 1y ago
    It's not like the parent would have accomplished nothing in the 10 years. I think they are just talking about framing it in language palatable to the interviewer across the table.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
    - whstl 1y ago
      Even in the most dysfunctional organizations you can't spend 10 years doing nothing. GP was achieving what their bosses asked of them. It's just that it didn't align with their own professional goals of improving the product they work on.
      - kunzhi 1y ago
_ea1k 1y ago
I don't think the point was literally doing nothing, but rather doing solid technical work with relatively low business value. This person could move on to do solid technical work with higher business value at a place that used their skills more effectively. The former isn't great, but it is a reality at many big companies.

johnnyanmac 1y ago

>you bring home say $300k/yr. You don't live in a HCOL Oh, I didn't know we were fantasizing about 2022. > you can still say you spent 10 years working at MS or Google and that would get you red carpet treatment just about anywhere. well, not in 2025. Market is rough and it's all topsy tuvrvy out there, with lots of companies pretending to hire but not. >If I was at one of these big tech companies and someone told me I was stagnant and would never get prompted I would just tell them so what. I bring home $300k for my family and I have a good work life balance Even tech isn't immune to "move up or move out". Google's had plenty of layoffs these past few years and that's an easy way for the gravy train to end. Hope you got plenty of savings.

spacemadness 1y ago
I don't think this world exists anymore. A lot of people I know are stressed out of their minds for the last few years by being way overworked and under constant threat of a layoff. I'm not talking about startups, I'm talking about Big Tech Corp. But I guess the mythical coasting engineer making a big tech salary that everyone talks about will never go out of style.
- chipsrafferty 1y ago
  It definitely exists, but it's in the $120,000-$170,000 range
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]