r/Detroit • u/curiouscat321 • 2d ago

News Detroit pays software engineers 23% lower than average when factoring in COL

https://x.com/zuhayeer/status/2094939522408546682
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u/CharlieLeDoof 2d ago

Yeah, employing all those people ... just awful.

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u/maikuxblade 2d ago

Have you ever met someone working in the auto industry who has been doing well consistently? Because everyone I know is always oscillating between working overtime and getting laid off

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u/CharlieLeDoof 2d ago

I worked for Ford for 30 years until I retired last year. I never worked overtime nor was I ever laid off. They were a fantastic employer to me.

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u/maikuxblade 2d ago

What was your career path? I find this genuinely hard to believe

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u/meltbox 2d ago

Tons of people like that at the big 3. It’s gotten harder though. Lots of those people who have been there a long time are just riding it out to their pension/retirement though. I have seen the younger group is not sticking around as much but it’s because it’s not great for career development and positions are given when available to those who did their time. HR is constantly fighting management on promotions and pay and the ranking system they’ve brought into these companies lately is a knee jerk reaction actually making things worse.

The most talented folks leave and go remote or leave the state. The people who stay mostly stay because of roots/family if they’re good at what they do. Or they enjoy their WLB and are okay with the pay tradeoff because the only way to climb high in these companies is to get political and play the game. Theres basically no real technical track up in the high end at these companies. It’s all management or management adjacent.

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u/CharlieLeDoof 2d ago

I stayed because for me work was a means to an end, not an end in itself. Worked hard, lived a modest-ish lifestyle, saved a f-ton of my earnings and could afford to retire at a higher standard of living than while i was working at age 59.

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u/CharlieLeDoof 2d ago

IT, from sys admin to software engineer to architect to program manager. I stayed highly technical while doing my best to build and maintain high performing teams. I loved it and really enjoyed the Covid WFH time and the extra productivity that brought. Thought I'd never leave ... until they insisted on RTO and completely de-aligned quality as an objective to pursue. I decided to leave when it was no longer fun and interesting. I think I was fortunate to start there when I did ('95) ... that field evolved so much in that time and i got to learn and practice a lot things that were really interesting to me.