Out of Scope - #5
Do ya'll even check your email?
Hi ya’ll! Hope everyone had a fabulous week.
Working closely with a design system team has been amusing because I have to explain to our designers why “just sending an email to the engineers” won’t actually solve any of our information problems. 😅
I’m learning the best solution is usually just repeated information in as many places as possible but if anyone has any quick tricks feel free to share!
In the Bay Area we’ve had a perfect Spring weather weekend. If you’re ever in the market for a lovely SF day trip - this Saturday I went up to Point Reyes to walk with the dogs on Limantour Beach where we saw some sunbathing seals, grabbed a lunch of fresh oysters at The Marshall Store, and stopped at Heidrun Meadery before driving home. All in all a perfect trip for a sunny day!
Contract Workers
Recently, TechEquity Collaborative reached out to share an interesting project they had been working on, The Contract Worker Disparity Project and I hope it will be interesting to you all to share it here. Contract workers are an important part of tech company workforces, yet it’s no secret they are often (mis)treated like a separate class of employees. I recommend reading through the full report!
One especially interesting part to me was the contract workforce is significantly more diverse than tech’s full-time workforce.
Did you know that tech contractors are more likely to be women and gender non-binary people in comparison to full-time employees? We're also finding a trend that contract workers are experiencing occupational segregation wherein people of color are also disproportionately overrepresented and underpaid in contract work.
I think we can all reflect on how our own companies treat contract workers and speak up if we have the power to do so. Are they paid fairly? Are they excluded from company or team meetings? Can they speak up or have opinions without fear of dismissal? Do they get the same access and benefits? Do they have upward trajectory and/or the ability to be hired full time?
I will definitely be more aware of these issues going forward.
ICMYI
Ya know… engineering technologies have had more out-there names and I don’t blame the recruiter for this one.
You all know who you are. Don’t forget to take your daily ibuprofen for your back.
Good thread about the tendency we all seem to have to rewrite complex production software! ⤵️
After onboarding at a large company the last year and still feeling lost a certain percentage of the time it is absolutely wild to me that it is normal for engineers to only have 18 month tenures at tech companies. I don’t blame them for leaving if they can do better for themselves elsewhere, but what a waste of time and resources for the companies and everyone involved. But it would make too much sense to reward people who stay wouldn’t it? 🥴
That’s it for this week folks! Stay safe and healthy and see you next week!
I tell my engineers they should mind their Github (or whatever ticketing system that's used) notifications. That's a single source of truth.
But as engineers start engaging with other x-functional team members and/or outside partners, they need to start minding their emails.
Repeated information in as many places as possible can help (simply as a notification mechanism), but it should usually be a link to a single source of truth.
Best subject line in an email ever!