granshaw

In all cases, you'll want to keep it to yourself, is my advice :)

Yes my point was more "this policy is nothing special or more lenient than the usual"

I didn’t read it as “significantly” affect work performance at all, it seemed more like it anything that DOES affect work performance is a problem

EDIT: Also it seems like they don’t like you doing things similar to what they paid you to do, even if it’s not in competition at all… so sounds like after hours coding consulting even in a complete different industry would be frowned upon even if it didn’t affect your performance

So all in all, still pretty strict

Even in the US you can quickly get to sw eng level after a few years in the trades, which are booming right now

And bonus, it’s a direct step from there to starting your own business in that trade then making way more

Of course you could start a software agency too but the competition is way more cutthroat

Thanks for sharing. What are you doing for income now? Are you retired?

This is what I hate about this industry at this point in my life. Just this morning I was fantasizing about being a dentist instead and just be able to work for as long as I like, not worry about ageism, and otherwise live my life, without needing to constantly “keep up”

Glad for you that you found this clarity

Learn to live on a ~50-75% of your salary is what I’ve been telling people. The good times for American engineers are gone

Why would you care what happens after you pass?

Do you worry that you won’t be able to keep up with the industry and get obsoleted and forced out of work or a certain comp level before you want?

Are you in a high cost of living situation that’s hard to get out of? Do you have kids?

If NOT, I would start by thinking if there’s ways you could drastically cut down your cost off living, like moving somewhere cheaper or even looking at Southeast Asia etc if that’s your jam

That would give you more options on the financial side of things in case you wanted to start over or have a go at something with a long ramp up time

One question I’ve set out to answer is: what would I do if I were fired tomorrow?

Understood that not everyone is in the position to switch to lower paying careers, start over, etc - but if you have some leash, what WOULD you do if you were fired tomorrow?

(And I don’t mean short term like take a vacation then find another tech job - mean longer term like what kind of job will you be looking for next, or business to start, etc)

Curious to hear your thoughts and anyone else who cares to share

Still young without dependents? Great.

Have a family and esp these employees in high CoL cities? Very tough.

Speaking from experience. Been there done that.

"We'll have all this new innovation via new startups now!" is such a feel good sentiment to layoffs but in reality is nowhere close to a solution for the affected employees

Cause they pay 2-3x as much, that’s why.