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“Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

businessinsider.com

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Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#171

Post by MaulingMonkey »

pdimitar wrote: post #132
frenchy wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard to say. It could be a million things. Some people are just hard to get along with. Some people are great fun for 1 hour a day, but miserable if you're around them all day. If you've devoted your life to your career, it's no surprise that you won't have anything in common with your wife & children, which makes things harder. They may love & respect each other, but not find each other's company enjoyable.

I've known and talked with enough people to know that you are very likely right -- that still doesn't stop me from thinking "how the hell can love and respect exist in such conditions?" People are extremely diverse indeed. I've known such couples and couldn't for the life of me ever imagine me being in such a relationship. But they are out there.

> "how the hell can love and respect exist in such conditions?"

Not all conflict is borne out of character flaws. Put me in the same room as an extrovert - be it in a workplace, boardgames night, or whatever - and I'll appreciate and respect their ability to keep the conversation flowing naturally. Put me in the same home as an extrovert, and that same habit will drive me mad. I need my occasional peace and quiet to recharge and focus! And perhaps just as much, they'll need someone to keep talking!

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#172

Post by coldtea »

pdimitar wrote: post #135
duncan_bayne wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience - also anecdotal - supports this. Only a small minority of people who 'joke' about their home life are actually joking. See also: http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/ha-ha-only-serious.html

Yep. People use the joking form of expression to tell truths they wouldn't dare saying with a straight face while the other side knows they're fully serious. Social stigma and dogma are to blame for this. ( Off-topic: one of the reasons that the love between me and my wife hasn't at all eroded -- it even got stronger -- after 3 years and a few months is that we're very honest with each other, even for the unpleasant…

>after 3 years and a few months

That's not long at all.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#173

Post by pixelmonkey »

muninn_ wrote: post #163
pixelmonkey wrote: post #87

One of the interesting trends of the past 10 years is the degree to which "big tech" has replaced "big finance" as the place for the elite to go to collect huge paychecks for relatively "nice" white collar work. It makes total sense for top SV engineers to get paid well, IMO. But I am afraid working for these big tech firms is starting to have that feeling of "elite pedigree" that pervades complacent industries, like…

With respect to your final point about teachers, firefighters, and doctors (please keep in mind I'm not against what I'm about to say) it comes down to the public nature of these jobs. When it's tax money, it's everyone's business. When it's a corporations money, it's only their business. Now obviously it's more nuanced than that, companies receive tax breaks and what have you, but I think that is largely to blame. S…

I think you have a point about the public nature of these jobs. That said, I picked these 3 somewhat at random. And though teacher and firefighter salaries are very much set by state budgets in the US, doctor salaries are not. (They are, instead, mainly set by a complex interplay of state funds, insurance company profit margins, and hospital/practice competition for doctors.)

Take, for two other examples, commercial airline pilots ($75k-125k per year) or paramedics/EMTs ($36-50k per year), neither of whose salaries are set exclusively by state budgets.

Consider this note I just found in researching EMT salaries: "Private ambulance companies generally have the lowest rates of pay, but may be more likely to hire newer or less experienced employees. Many EMTs start with private companies to get their feet wet. Government agencies such as [...] state ambulance services generally pay the highest, but they’re more competitive to get into and may have higher education requirements."

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#174

Post by zengid »

pdimitar wrote: post #118
joejerryronnie wrote: post #117

Or, as a recently bought out/retired colleague remarked, "My job now consists of being home all day and trying not to piss off my wife" - a much harder endeavor than any engineering project I can think of.

Sounds like love and respect are long gone from that "relationship".

I take it you're not married

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#176

Post by boulos »

muzz wrote: post #80
johan_larson wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clarification: "Senior SWE", the formal rank, at Google is indeed a plausible terminal level. If you get there, they'll let you stay indefinitely. But it isn't particularly senior. If you start at Google straight out of college, it's two promotions up, and you may not have supervised anyone higher than an intern.

Yes, but: 1) promotions are not particularly easy. they are approved by committee, ie not because a manager happens to favor an employee 2) Senior SWE itself is an Individual Contributor role (some say the optimal level if one wants to remain an IC). Only at the next level is leadership required 3) There is a HUGE jump in compensation between Senior SWE and the next level (Staff). Senior SWEs are not pulling anywhere…

Right. The article instead repeatedly referred to the Group B candidates as making upwards of $600,000:

> "Engineers get paid $250,00 to $600,000 range, but there's no sense of urgency."

> "estimating that very senior engineering positions can command up to $400,000- $600,000 in total compensation at X, including bonus and stock options.

(though now that I quote it, those are all data from the same anonymous engineer working at X)

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#177

Post by sillysaurus3 »

WalterBright wrote: post #74

I attended Caltech in the era that Feynman was a professor there. I heard he was paid XXX a year. I opined that was ridiculous, who could possibly be worth that much? An upperclassman laughed and told me that Feynman was worth that much to the university even if he did nothing. Attaching his name to the university brought in donations, grants, and top talent. Of course, Feynman being Feynman, worked like hell anyway.

What was the XXX figure? It'd be interesting to know.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#178

Post by pdimitar »

zengid wrote: post #174
pdimitar wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like love and respect are long gone from that "relationship".

I take it you're not married

Marriage must be a happy coexistence with another person in the same household, and that's exactly what I have.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#179

Post by pdimitar »

user5994461 wrote: post #150
pdimitar wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've known and talked with enough people to know that you are very likely right -- that still doesn't stop me from thinking "how the hell can love and respect exist in such conditions?" People are extremely diverse indeed. I've known such couples and couldn't for the life of me ever imagine me being in such a relationship. But they are out there.

Are you really surprised that people can't get along when they re stuck together 24/7 all days? That's what happens when they retire.

Surprised? Absolutely not. Even the greatest love can wither away if there's no diversity in the way a couple spends their life.

Stasis is death, movement is life, applies to all areas of human life.

Re: “Rest and vest”: engineers who get paid and barely work

#180

Post by pdimitar »

coldtea wrote: post #172
pdimitar wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. People use the joking form of expression to tell truths they wouldn't dare saying with a straight face while the other side knows they're fully serious. Social stigma and dogma are to blame for this. ( Off-topic: one of the reasons that the love between me and my wife hasn't at all eroded -- it even got stronger -- after 3 years and a few months is that we're very honest with each other, even for the unpleasant…

> after 3 years and a few months That's not long at all.

From my subjective experience, most relationships' future is known no later than year two.
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