The ship isn't actually sinking; it's more like the crew is getting tired of poor rations.
But they're still jumping ship.
It's not like we have an overflowing coffer of engineers, either. Many of them already have been dragged off to other programs, some of whom we may never see again as they disappear behind the mysterious wall of NDA.[1]
But it's the few who have taken The Big Step and found gainful employment at other companies - those are the ones we envy.
Because they have found companies small enough (so far) to avoid the bane of engineers: bureaucracy, overhead, multilevel management. Those guys (and girls) will actually be able to write code and create systems and ship stuff out the door that doesn't require a ton of documentation and certification paperwork. They'll be able to use the skills they really value rather than wonder if they'll ever be able to code again.
And I'd probably do the same thing if we weren't on the cusp of sending our oldest kid off to college. This isn't a good time to be taking chances.
Kinda makes me sad, wistful, and envious.
The first time it happened, it wasn't too bad. The guy had already moved off our project to work on another one, and he's one of those brilliant engineers who really needs to be working on something cool, 'cause otherwise he's just wasting his time. But he knew everthing about our project.
The second time, it was a guy who had also moved on to another project, but we were using him as kind of a consultant on our project because he knew everthing about our lab equipment and had set everything up and we didn't have anyone trained up yet to do what he had been doing.
The third time, it was our last remaining engineer who knew everything about our project, and was, in fact, still working on our project. He was, in essence, the Last Engineer Standing. But he had found a better job in a much better place - about five miles from his house, instead of the thirty miles he currently travels every day (each way).
So we're left with no one. All of our engineers are gone. I'm the only person remaining who can actually read (and update) the software. But as the Lead, I'm not supposed to do that kind of work. I'm supposed to manage other people who do that kind of work.
Looks like it's going to be an interesting summer!
[1]Non-Disclosure Agreement. They have to promise not to tell anyone anything!
1 comment:
At our house, it's the intern who gets the really great corporate flying job with only 500 hours of flying time, or the young guy who just got hired on and left because the commuter airline up the road hired him, with only 800 hours. And we stick with the job because we want the kids to have choices which they might not if we were making 30k at a flying job. If we could get it. It's frustrating, but we admire you guys for hanging in there and taking care of us, your family.
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