engineers overseeing this work
There the thing: nobody wants to pay engineers on par with managers. Maybe one can not manage something he/she can not understand.
There the thing: nobody wants to pay engineers on par with managers. Maybe one can not manage something he/she can not understand.
That's always the moment when I'm happy to have documented the decisions.
I used to think like that but I learned in time that the core issue is that engineers rarely know how to present their job in terms of monetary benefit during salary negotiations.
i.e. as an automation engineer I led an initiative that saved a previous employer more than 60k€ yearly using automation and optimizing other validation workflows. as principal engineer at my current job I saved them more than 30k€ yearly by replacing a licensed component with an open source one, filling the feature gaps myself outside of work hours.
these thing get noticed, not just the stuff done but the ability of thinking in money, and unlocks the full engineering potential in salary negotiations
To be clear, I wasn't referring to the board having a choice in the matter.
You may claim it’s unfair that productive members are exploited to pay for nonproductive ones, but that’s the neo-conservatives’ argument, and has been rejected by most of the Silicon Valley. I honestly think that the currebt situation is already the middle ground betweeb “pay proportional to your added value” and “diversity, equality and social responsibility requires adjusting the salaries of highest-paid engineers.”
The point is, they shouldn't have to. The managers should be handling that fairly. Otherwise, it's an adversarial game where only one team knows how to play.
Engineers should be experts in engineering. Holding them at a disadvantage because they are not good at the other feels wrong.
someone in between has to connect the dots, but there is no such figure and the incentives for doing that communication work are all on the engineers' side
addendum: I do however agree it sucks to have to compete with other fellows
Your achievement is to save money by doing all the work for free in your spare time?
While I agree that engineers should negotiate better and keep track of their achievements, that is not one at all.
I'm significantly ahead of all my peers in job position and salary so I must have been doing something right.
I've a family now and such investment done prior are helping immensely.
all my peers know I'm dependable and all previous manager know I do get things done.
the large reference network is both a source of work opportunities and has been a safety net during times of need.
why would people choose the misery of strictly contractual relationship when you can build partnerships and friendship wherever you go with just very little effort.