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Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

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Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#101

Post by MongooseStudios »

rusticrover wrote: post #90

The core issue here isn't just market conditions or bad hiring practices. It's that tech _workers_ have spent decades thinking they were somehow different from other _workers_, that they were 'partners' with capital rather than the labor behind it. You're experiencing what people in every other industry have dealt with for generations: being treated as a disposable cost center when it's convenient for ownership. The…

I've been in a union before. The benefits were bad, the pay was bad, after negotiations they were still bad. The union said "we tried." So I have trouble seeing them as the panacea that is marketed.

Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#102

Post by tptacek »

zazazx wrote: post #99
ativzzz wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I make stupid decisions reacting to those feelings. Yea it seems like the right thing to do is to step away and take a sabbatical to cool down, and then remember that we like money, and that it's just part of the game to get paid.

Keep playing a wicked game whose rules are stacked against you for the shiny trophy. I’ll see you in therapy in a few years.

I guess another bit of advice is to do whatever you need to do to avoid ending up talking like this.

Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#103

Post by danaris »

MongooseStudios wrote: post #98
danaris wrote: post #79

Come to academia. I don't mean "become a professor"; I mean be a software developer at a college or university. They need them in large teams (IT department of a larger university) down to solo devs (working for a single department at a small liberal arts college—this is where I've been for 15 years). It's true that you won't get the same level of pay—frankly, I've been woefully underpaid—but, by and large, they're n…

Do these jobs get posted in all the normal places, or is there somewhere else I should look?

You might very well need to go looking at individual institutions' websites. Whether they get posted to places like Indeed or LinkedIn is going to be much more hit and miss than with big industry players or tech startups.

And yes, I am very personally aware of just how time-consuming and frustrating that can be.

Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#104

Post by harryquach »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #51

Yes, you aren't alone I'm exhausted and burned out too. I'm fortunate that I can take some time away from work to recover and hopefully regain some passion for this, but I'm strongly considering retraining for a different industry I'm happy to talk, as someone also going through the same stuff. Let me know, I can drop some contact info

What industry are you thinking of moving towards?

Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#105

Post by geissc »

I just released this song… maybe somewhat related to these feelings.

The lyrics were inspired by Anthony de Mello's observation that most of us are like people on a bus, passing through the most beautiful country imaginable, but the shades are drawn and we are arguing about who has first place on the bus.

The music and song title were inspired by Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns And Money.

So inspired by two great philosophers.

https://lynkify.in/album/bus-rides-shades-and-windows/auUoEf...

Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#106

Post by spacemadness »

geissc wrote: post #105

I just released this song… maybe somewhat related to these feelings. The lyrics were inspired by Anthony de Mello's observation that most of us are like people on a bus, passing through the most beautiful country imaginable, but the shades are drawn and we are arguing about who has first place on the bus. The music and song title were inspired by Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns And Money. So inspired by two great philos…

Maybe someone should tell the business leadership and politicians to stop pulling down the shades on our behalf.

Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#107

Post by spacemadness »

aristofun wrote: post #87
_wire_ wrote: post #2

Oh yes. It's dog eat dog but among very lazy privileged dogs. Don't confuse business with a humane enterprise. It operates according to a vague informal internal calculus, has little loyalty to staff or communities and will happily eat skilled, conscientious contributors. The utopian stuff about being intelligent and progressive is hyperbole; a side effect of a privileged class of the labor sector for 50 years for th…

Wtf are you talking about “priveleged”? Many people worked day and night to become a well paid engineer. And some rich founders of companies still do, coming from nothing.

I’ve seen way more people struggling with mental health issues largely from overwork and stress than overly privileged. I think I’ve once or twice worked with an engineer that was kinda lazy but that’s out of hundreds of people I’ve worked with closely over the years. The only people who gain from calling engineers lazy and privileged are executives. All it does is widen the stick used to flog you.

Re: Ask HN: Is anyone else just done with the industry?

#109

Post by spacemadness »

DracheZahn wrote: post #95
DracheZahn wrote: post #93

After 35 years in tech and 10 years with the same company, today is my last day at a Fortune 100 tech firm. I left voluntarily with no new job lined up. Never felt so relieved. I realized that the depression I was experiencing was caused entirely by leadership, not my job. No matter which products I worked on, the same feelings of depression and ultimately loathing of the environment and process kept returning. Don't…

One more comment and a bit of advice for junior product and engineering staff. If someone else leaves, make it clear to your leadership that you cannot be expected to always pick up the slack. Don't get stuck in the cycle where leaders learn they can dump tasks on you and never backfill for the skill set. Becoming an essential team member will lessen your chances of getting promoted, and you will have very limited ca…

Sounds great until they’re PIPd. And I fully agree with you. The industry is hellbent on working people into the ground because they’re drunk on their newfound layoff powers. They absolutely love the turn around in their favor and I’ve personally witnessed management using horrible psychological tactics to overwork people in this environment. This industry really disgusts me, but hey, at least they’re going masks off finally so we can see them for what they really are.

I don’t care what people say online, I’ve seen excellent engineers treated like trash recently, some of which are also thinking of leaving the industry. That’s everyone’s loss. I’m so tired of all this short term thinking.

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