The most difficult thing about working in the big tech is managers
The most difficult thing about working in the big tech is managers
7 by cjstkfpdlel | 5 comments on Hacker News.
The amont of mental health issues I have developed and the stress that exists because of the corporate politics and the existence of the manager class is unbearable. The absolute worst thing about working in the big tech is not the obscure problem solving or crazy bugs and SEVs.. its managers. No matter how much they like to embellish their roles with statements like 1. Google also tried to get rid of managers but failed (which was 20 years ago when the tech and the people process were much more primitive) 2. Good manager shields you from politics 3. You've only had bad managers. 4. Managers are needed to set scope, hire, and mentor. It doesn't change the fundamental fact that the fundamental nature of the manager class is that 1. you take credit for the work your reports do 2. your job entails "cracking the whip" - managing people out, sometimes in really insidious and malevolent ways 3. asking for status updates (which is half of your job) and expecting reports to manage you up while you contribute absolutely nothing in the technical domain, which holds true for people managers at companies like Meta. 4. Most importantly, the phrase "people leave managers, not the company" was born for a reason and holds true even today for the vast majority of the working people I would even go as far as to say that most of the mental health issues, depression, and unhappiness that exist in the modern world for the working class is likely due to their managers. You likely chose this path for the superficial reasons like "this is the only way to move up", or for power and money. otherwise you would have chosen the path of becoming principal/distinguished/fellow engineers instead. Managers will defend their position most times by saying that hierarchy is human nature and unavoidable, and that manager is the necessary evil, but people 200 years ago said the same thing about monarchy and nobility. Just as people ~120 years ago thought that the heavier than the air flight was physically impossible, even the most prominent physicist Lord Kelvin at that time thought so, and was proven wrong a decade later by the Wright brothers, it is likely that managers and many people today can't imagine an alternative system where people can stay productive and provide good work without the managers cracking the whip at their back. But, I really hope the day comes when modern corporate hierarchy and the manager class is viewed the same way we view monarchy and feudalism today. personal computers and the internet gave us possbility, although weren't sufficient to provide a better alternative than the manager class, but I hope the ever accelerating technology and AI will help us get there this century. I hope our children and grandchildren and the people in the 22nd and 23rd century will live in a more just and less cruel system than the modern corporate hierarchy.
7 by cjstkfpdlel | 5 comments on Hacker News.
The amont of mental health issues I have developed and the stress that exists because of the corporate politics and the existence of the manager class is unbearable. The absolute worst thing about working in the big tech is not the obscure problem solving or crazy bugs and SEVs.. its managers. No matter how much they like to embellish their roles with statements like 1. Google also tried to get rid of managers but failed (which was 20 years ago when the tech and the people process were much more primitive) 2. Good manager shields you from politics 3. You've only had bad managers. 4. Managers are needed to set scope, hire, and mentor. It doesn't change the fundamental fact that the fundamental nature of the manager class is that 1. you take credit for the work your reports do 2. your job entails "cracking the whip" - managing people out, sometimes in really insidious and malevolent ways 3. asking for status updates (which is half of your job) and expecting reports to manage you up while you contribute absolutely nothing in the technical domain, which holds true for people managers at companies like Meta. 4. Most importantly, the phrase "people leave managers, not the company" was born for a reason and holds true even today for the vast majority of the working people I would even go as far as to say that most of the mental health issues, depression, and unhappiness that exist in the modern world for the working class is likely due to their managers. You likely chose this path for the superficial reasons like "this is the only way to move up", or for power and money. otherwise you would have chosen the path of becoming principal/distinguished/fellow engineers instead. Managers will defend their position most times by saying that hierarchy is human nature and unavoidable, and that manager is the necessary evil, but people 200 years ago said the same thing about monarchy and nobility. Just as people ~120 years ago thought that the heavier than the air flight was physically impossible, even the most prominent physicist Lord Kelvin at that time thought so, and was proven wrong a decade later by the Wright brothers, it is likely that managers and many people today can't imagine an alternative system where people can stay productive and provide good work without the managers cracking the whip at their back. But, I really hope the day comes when modern corporate hierarchy and the manager class is viewed the same way we view monarchy and feudalism today. personal computers and the internet gave us possbility, although weren't sufficient to provide a better alternative than the manager class, but I hope the ever accelerating technology and AI will help us get there this century. I hope our children and grandchildren and the people in the 22nd and 23rd century will live in a more just and less cruel system than the modern corporate hierarchy.
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