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> What exactly is the employee doing that there are no metrics at all

Anything that needs managers to actually go and check.

It's not that they trust the employee to work with zero supervision, it's just that most managers and execs don't want to do any kind of work.

The webcam checks are pure projection.



Aren't the managers subject to the same 3-minute shots themselves?


> “You can turn it off!” he said.

> “Yes,” said O’Brien, “we can turn it off. We have that privilege.”

Probably different rules for management.


Not necessarily.

In an odd sort of irony, I know that at least one WITCH in fact gives feedback to the employees about their monitoring directly, versus other 'solutions' where only the manager and/or HR gets access to the system's reporting.


Absolutely not. Tell me a single company where the same executives are subject to the invasive privacy metrics.

Even like Facebook: the AI training stuff was applied to software engineers and staff but definitely not executives.


I’ve never been an executive but I’ve worked as an Engineering Manager and a Senior EM of various levels at big shot software engineering companies and all the same rules always applied to me as literally every other employee I managed, directly or indirectly.


An EM in a software firm is the equivalent of a lead clerk in a grocery.


I'm not sure I understand the metaphor, since I've never worked as a lead clerk in a grocery store. Do you mind elaborating?


He’s saying you’re as far from an executive as the janitor is. You don’t even have a personal assistant.


The original comment to which I replied said "most managers and execs", so I thought I'd address the "managers" part of it.


On the labor/management divide, I'd put the overwhelming majority of line managers far closer to the labor side.


But that's the point of the vast array of fancy corporate titles, it's a nice way to get them to feel closer to the management and thus side with the execs despite not receiving the same privileges, Not many feel very important working as a line manager, but a Senior Solutions and Progress Development Analyst...Wow!


I've never worked for a line manager that has 'sided with the execs' in any meaningful manner. I'm sure there are plenty of sycophants and sociopaths that do, but it's not a broadly accurate generalization.

To wit: When one gets an order to, say, pick two people to fire, or get fired himself, carrying out the order doesn't regularly mean that they 'side' with it.


Considering everyone today is a “social media manager” or “email marketing manager”, and I have even seen “QA manager”, chances are there are more individual-contributor being called “managers” than managers themselves.


If you’re meaningfully engaged with actual engineering work, you’re not an executive.

If you worked for a state government or defense contractor, you’d still be in the union.

That’s not an insult or a dig.


Wasn't taken as such at all, I was genuinely curious -- never heard the term.


You might be familiar with a shift manager?

The person who has some power about who to fire, but still flips burgers or mans the cash register when everyone else is busy.

Not saying it's not a noble job, but it's very far from executive.


I’m sure an EM can extrapolate the role of lead clerk at the grocery store. The EM probably goes to the grocery store and has interacted with the grocery store workers.


Not sure there's much value in training the AI on the executives playing golf. Lol


Executive is the job most easily replaced by AI, that's why executives think it can replace all jobs - projection.


[flagged]

I think both of your points stand: you worked with one truly good executive leader.

But we can still already replace 99% of C-levels with a $20 subscription to Claude and a few MCP integrations.


> The problem is there are very, very, very few good executives. Most that I've interacted with are either narcissistic, lazy, incompetent, or a combination thereof.

His point is that narcissistic, lazy, incompetent people are easy to replace with AI. In other words, most executives and grant writers. Why are you framing it like you disagree? He is correct.

Also a point about style for "someone who excels at technical writing": an LLM could help you come up with stronger, more evocative wording than very, very, and very. I try to use words like "very" zero times in a row, because there's always a better word that actually adds something more insightful to the description than a generic "very" or three. Using "very" three times in a row is like eating a whole box of unflavored starch packing peanuts.



I guess maybe I disagree in terms of the good executives and wish for a world where that was the norm, and those character traits were sought after by companies instead of narcissism, etc.

For your second paragraph: I'm not looking for a job on here and I'm not writing technically. I'm posting on an Internet forum and using repetition to emphasize a point. Sort of like changing the voice I use for the forum or audience. That sort of thing is very, very common.


I have to agree with DonHopkins. Your GP comment reads like needless steelmanning or playing devil’s advocate. It’s noise. I much prefer discourse where you say what you mean and mean what you say.


Your profile is very clear.


Very, very, very clear. Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous ROI.


Ah the classic No true executive argument


The other several hundred minus one were doing pretty well though, weren't they? Sounds like the average executive can be replaced by AI.


They should be, but it still beats working for a living.




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