61–70 of 134 posts
Good. For context, air pollution kills 200,000 in the US and 40,000 in UK every year. You have to consider ethics in your work as an Engineer. Refusing an unethical task is your moral duty.
Yes ... but as engineers we need to support the professional organisations that in turn will support us when we need to make these difficult and politically courageous decisions.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When asked why you were fired, being able to say "I was asked to do something illegal or unethical" is a strong response. That certainly helps with the "find a new job" part.
I could easily see the interviewer twist this to ask the next question "But does that mean you won't be loyal to us??"
I and a co-interviewer recently voted "strong yes" for a candidate partly on the basis of hearing that he took a hard line against giving his CEO access to the text of conversations on a messaging platform.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And one would think the Germans would have learned that lesson.
Germans in general, this example notwithstanding, have learned that lesson, it's the rest of the world that still needs to learn it as well as they did.
lighten up guys. it was kind of funny.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And one would think the Germans would have learned that lesson.
This has nothing to do with nationality. Everywhere and up to this day people excuse themselves that they are just doing what they were told/forced to. Snowden is sadly the rare exception, rather than the rule.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes ... but as engineers we need to support the professional organisations that in turn will support us when we need to make these difficult and politically courageous decisions.
Who are such organisations?
Other such organizations might include software engineering guilds but I don't think such guilds generally act to protect the interests of software engineers collectively or individually.
For various historical and professional reasons, software developers have not seriously considered unionization as a means of advancing their interests. However, unions typically do protect their members from arbitrary and unfair work termination.
YMMV
EDIT: change indirect object of first sentence in last paragraph.
And all this, while the VW share just reached new record highs...
And now all of a sudden the invest marginal sums (lower than what gets invested for new car models usually) to make electric cars work, and suddenly bankers think they'll make it work?
I seriously doubt it.
Looking forward to Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Schmidt being arrested on their next EU trip for breaking the law here.
And in the end, it's the money that hurts. Jails breaks can be made nice with cash in every country.
Fantastic precedent. When your boss tells you to do something unethical and possibly illegal, you now have a great reason to say no.
Is it a good enough reason though? That would depend on the likelihood of losing your job by refusing, the ease of finding a different job, the seriousness of the unethical request, and the likelihood of getting caught.
While the article does mention one more guy (Oliver Schmidt), it's a shame they just put the whole thing on this Engineer, when in reality there is no way this could have been pulled off by two people without the rest of management's knowledge/approval. Are you seriously telling me that only this single guy was responsible for all the emissions that were found in the TDI range of diesels, all the way from A3 to A8? S…
This is a common sentiment here on HN, and it is entirely devoid of factual grounding. This is one guy who happened to travel to the USA (stupid move: asking US authorities before travelling "hey, are you going to arrest me?" and taking their word that no, they don't plan to…). Another American VW guy has already been sentenced. The "real culprits" are all living in Germany. And the investigation in Germany is ongoin…
Understand the reasons why, but it does feel like justice.