We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon

Re:We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon by roflyear on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @11:26AM (#31655761)

Absolutely. Almost every org treats engineers as an expendable resource. They do this because they fear the alternative, which requires treating people with respect, because those people are valuable to your organization.

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Re:We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon by rtp4me on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @03:12PM (#31658791)

You and I have very different career experiences. I have worked for 5 Fortune-100 technology companies over the past 20 years and never once did I feel like I was an expendable resource. Outside one particular experience, every one of my managers (Directors, Sr Directors) treated everyone with respect and honesty. Furthermore, they were genuinely concerned about health and family issues (family health, PTO, etc). Even in my current role, my company goes out of its way to provide a solid work-life balance (additional PTO for COVID, extra volunteer time, etc).

I hope others on HN have had the opportunity to work in places such as these...

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Re:We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon by mywittyname on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @03:21PM (#31658912)

Things have changed in the past decade for engineers. In the 00s, I felt expendable at every job, even at places that suffered after an exodus engineers. In the 10s, I felt necessary, but fungible. And in the 20s, I feel important and that my skills are distinct.

I'm sure this varies a lot for people working in different sectors, but I think every sector has seen the perceived importance of technology engineering increase over time.

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Re:We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon by roflyear on Monday June 13, 2022 @10:34AM (#31726195)

Wow! I hope to one day work where you did and to have similar experiences. That sounds great.

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Re:We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon by Barrin92 on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @10:39PM (#31662591)

>They do this because they fear the alternative

they do it because they can. Engineers have the tendency to be overly individualistic and ignore collective bargaining which is the primary means by which people can gain better working conditions. As long as people are willing to put in those 60 hours to climb up the next career rank ahead of their peers it's gonna be that way.

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Re:We're moving to a four-day work week at Beacon by hinkley on Tuesday June 07, 2022 @06:55PM (#31661016)

If you are organized you can call their bluff. But if more than a couple of people defect and keep insisting they can make the unreasonable deadlines, then those people get attention because they are saying what management wants to hear.

One of my goals in life is to get better at identifying (read, admitting/accepting) when the team has defectors and finding someplace else to apply my skills. But the few times it has actually worked are a mighty incentive to try again, even when I should know better.

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