Rant on Engineers in BLR: Many of you are super spoilt and need a reality check
SWEs in BLR startups are insufferably spoiled. During the bull market, they were showered with exorbitant salaries, bonuses, and stock options, creating a sense of entitlement that’s now out of control. It doesn't go away, despite the layoffs.
They barely grasp fundamentals of how startups or businesses operate. They believe their coding skills alone entitle them to dictate terms, oblivious to critical aspects like burn, need to ship fast, how investors look at startups etc.
Their obsession with "WLB" is unexplainable, the entitlement comes out of thin air. Business teams are expected to burning the midnight oil to keep the company afloat, these engineers balk at the idea of working beyond a cushy six-hour day.
Their arrogance is staggering. They act as if their presence is a gift to the company. Here's how to identify them: they seldom take a bath, their hair are often in a mess, and you'll find them the first to leave as the clock strikes 5:30 pm in the evening.
Needs a harsh reality check. They must understand that building a business requires more than just coding. It demands teamwork, humility, and a deep understanding of how things work.
This isn't how other engineers, at unicorns that have paid off well to employees, were. They weren't this bratty. This punctures the entire ecosystem!
A. Software Engineering is hard. It pays well to be good.
B. As long as they get their job done in time, I don't see a reason for them to not leave early and have a life. Whether they wanna get involved in business understanding or not is entirely upto them. I don't think this means they are spoilt though
C. I agree on entitlement part, few of us do have that in our job since we got good pay. But, trust me, it soon fades away when we realise money early on in career is making us complacent
D. This isn't just about engineers. You'll find entitlement folks in every segment of life. It's a mindset problem and not specific to engineers
E. It's true, engineers can do lot better knowing more than coding, but everyone has their own priorities, we can't envision a future for others based on what we feel is right for us
If life is so great for SWEs and so bad for business folks, then why don’t you become an SWE?
Most of the value creation in tech companies is by SWEs simply because of the leverage that software is able to create. One SWE has the potential to create 100M worth of value with 1 piece of code. Very difficult for a non SWE to do so by putting in the same amount of time.
With SDEs, the impact they make is multifold. What a business guy does & burns midnight oil on is very temporary in nature. That stays for a business cycle.
The impact an SDE makes is there to stay for years & shapes the very core of the product. This is coming from a PM.
No doubt about it. SDEs are critical for the building of every new age company. I will never underrate that. I just feel very few of them realize how much they matter to the company.
As somebody who is quite committed to the cause, I feel my success depends on them doing well (because they make the company), and when some of them seem non-chalant, it gives me anxiety
Totally disagree. For most of the start ups these SWE are the main business team. Without them there is no company. Considering the pay the management gets these SWE are paid pittance. And not to mention that leadership failures are often hoisted upon these poor people.
The mgmt has no right to complain about these people asking for WLB. If they had been reasonable in the first place the SWE wouldn't be so demanding today.
If anybody thinks it's excessive, they brought this upon themselves.
SWEs aren't the main business team, anywhere at all. At some startups, CTOs and Heads of Engg do have that kind of leaning, but never the SWEs.
On pay - I'm talking about early to mid stage startups. In my last startup (which unfortunately failed), the founders with 8 years of experience would draw a lesser salary than SWEs with 2 YoE.
That is why these fuckers are spoilt.
I know a junior guy, who went into a Nit using quota and then was like you guys are just getting 10 lakhs with 4-5 yrs exp, what will happen with this much money . Undermined in condescending tone to everyone in the circle that people are getting 50Lakh , 60lakh as fresher. Got reality check, couldn’t get placement due to market conditions, and not he started with 4lakh. Too much arrogance .
"my junior couldn't secure a good placement because of said market conditions hahahah" nice grown up vibes
In my org, inspite of getting heavily paid devs have been working real hard. Esp beyond office hours. Be it backend or frontend. I dont know what you’re on about mate
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What you’re referring to is bad hiring. That doesn’t mean devs in Bangalore dont work, or shouldn’t get paid. And whats wrong in asking for WLB.
Seen the life of devs in western countries? They treat their employees like human to say the least.
All that glitter is not gold. Most engineers are toiling silently in an office corner. Burning midnight oil. Many of them don't even get paid a fair salary. Only a few entitled brats may make it look like what you think.. Most others are commoners.
Unlike other profiles, engineers get least exposure for networking while working. Least amount of variance in brain stimulation ( working on same set )
This comment right here 🥇
