mblack1968

Well, work conditions are worsening everywhere. Stress it our daily bread now. Stress == non alignment between responsibilities and authorities, like a dieselgate software engineer being ordered to make it, but s/he will end up the only one in court.

I was looking for this kind of statement and thank goodness I found it. I was starting to think it was just me and my angry, cynical and jaded colleagues bitching more as we get older.

Reading your statement, I am starting to digest the simple fact that our profession has gone to the dogs. There are fewer and fewer employers that understand what we do is part craft, part art, part engineering. We DO need a union. We need SOMETHING.

Here's what I am finding: the misalignment of authority and responsibility lead to being forced to do shitty work in place of long-term solid development. This then sets us up for blame when the technical debt mounts. Then WE are the ones struggling to deal with the eventual REAL outcome that leads to a boat-load of stress.

edit: While typing this reply, my friend/colleague texted me to say he is experiencing nausea and anxiety DAILY now. I know of several developers on anti-anxiety meds that they began taking within the past two years due to work stress.

We have "public baths". They are usually called "YMCA's" and they charge a fee. There are saunas and steam rooms and chlorinated swimming pools at most YMCA facilities.

I am looking for startup work and shares. I have some mobile (Android) experience and 15 years of web development in various domains including telephony, PKI, e-commerce, PDF.

Location: Southeast & Midwest, USA

Remote: Yes (5 years of remote and travel experience)

Willing to relocate: No

Technologies: Django/Python, .NET/C#, TypeScript, AngularJS, LESS, jQuery, Bootstrap, SQL Server, Postgres, Git, Kendo

Résumé/CV: https://tinyurl.com/chanwillrez

Email: ch4nwilliams [at] gmail.com

Thank you for responding! I like hearing solutions. Listening to my own whining is tiresome.

To your point, I left my large F-50 employer this summer and started at a smaller company. I am strongly considering contracting. Your response is encouraging.

I've been reading HN for a few years now. The tone of the response to women in IT hasn't changed much. I kept believing that if I were good enough, smart enough, and if people liked me enough, I would get ahead.

Turns out, there's a real ceiling on where I can go. Not because I lack talent. I am very good with people. My last manager believed I would be a VP at the company someday. I maxed out at that fake "architect" role made for people that require more money but can't be promoted to management. This was a large F-50 type organization.

We found that the HR departments at very large companies definitely improve diversity up and down the ranks. But there is a blockade that eventually presents itself.

This blockade can probably be summed up mathematically: The first females to go up stream will always be white. As the number of females up the ranks increases, the less obligation white males feel to grant other minorities the same privilege. Eventually, it works out to where there will be a multitude of white women paving the way at VP level, and until they die off or retire, the blockade prevents advancement for anyone else.

I call it the "wall of white women" with a sub-wall of "white male architects" waiting for their chance. If the minority applicant is not blindingly obviously superior to the wall of white males just beneath the wall of white women, there's no chance.

Unfortunate. I find it kind of hilarious and enjoy watching it form at every single major corporation.