More perks less pay ???

[2dye4]

I see plenty of jobs going unfulfilled in the ads and they mostly have one thing in common.
High demands and intrusion on personal life.
Apparently these "we want to own you" positions are becoming difficult to fill even in these miserable economic conditions.

I find this a good sign. I want Engineers to demand more quality of life and less pay so this factor will work into employers expectations.

Some of the things i would like to see go away.

1 24/7 on call with pager.
2 PTO vacation management with no sick time.
3 Frequent travel requirements.
4 Frequent weekend work in addition to full weekday work.

So how about it guys, lets kick back and consider NOT buying that boat or new car and spend the difference on our free time.

Engineers have for too long been workaholics.

Balance makes best eh ???

Do you agree ??

 

[lacajun]

I had a manager tell me once that companies like engineers to get loaded with debt through the wife, the 2.5 kids, the $250,000 mortgage, the SUV, the mini-van, the boat, the camper, the expensive vacations, etc. That way they cannot leave the company and have to make themselves content with whatever they receive from the company.

Another manager's father-in-law was a VP for a major oil company and never worked more than 40 hrs/wk. His philosophy was if you can't get your work done in 40 hrs. and you're not goofing off, management needs to hire people. He did not understand our generation working themselves to death and missing so much of life.

 

[HornTootinEE]

Speaking of perks, One question for all on this string:

Is continuing education, industry training, education tuition reimbursement assistance, etc pretty common among most employeers of engineers? If so, what metrics are placed on it? Like how many industry training classes are you eligible to attend? Or how much of your tuition gets reimbursed, per class, on average?

Our company has some level of tuition reimbursement, it's about 75% on college classes. We also have some access to industry trainging seminars and the like, but depending on your manager you may not get to go to any or you may get to go to as many as you want.

 

[cranky108]

We have 100% education tuition reimbursement, if the class is a skill we would use in our present job, and you pass the course. However, PE clases are not. But we do have free classes for weight loss, cardio, etc.

Industry training classes are paid for by the company, as long as they are approved by your manager, and he has a budget for it.

 

[lacajun]

On training, many companies have decided to stop training once you hit your mid-40's because they will not get the return on their investment. I disagree with that thinking but I have seen others hit that and experienced it.

HR has a lifecycle for employees and they look for people who know how to manage employees across the decades of work. I think that's pretty silly, too. Some people shouldn't be trained beyond college because they won't do anything with it. Others should be trained until they retire because they will use it tremendously as long as they can. Some are lifelong learners and others are not.

 

[KENAT]

That's all pretty silly cajun given the average employment expectancy at most companies, however yes it seems to happen.

Kind of like some places not hiring people much over 40, how silly is that from most respects.

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