Outsourced. What now?
I had been with ATT for 15 years and they suddenly decided to dump their technology development to a vendor company (Tech Mahindra) the good news is, I still have a job. The bad news is TechM is known for providing low cost solutions so keeping my TC (100k southeast ) or getting a raise is a low probability. And from what I'm seeing on here that TC is already low. So naturally i want to find something else. I am currently a SDET actually a manager over a group of SDETs. I used to be a SWE years ago. . . But over the years my career has leaned more toward leading and driving results. Now I have to make the decision of what type of job to search for... I could start studying code again and start looking for SWE jobs but I'm not sure I want to go back into coding. I guess I'm just venting in this post so far but... is there any advice for job types that arent quite SWEs? What would be a good role to transition to these days? (First job change in 15 years is just weird)
Isn’t 100k pretty good for the southeast since it’s a low COL area. I highly doubt you would see a lot of high TC in the south east area. Usually you only see really high TC in the NW or NE because of COL.
Yeah I figured it was region that was the cause for the difference. I must admit some of these TCs are staggering . . . They must be west coast in most cases.
No, not at all. Not in a major city like Atlanta, at least, where a decent house in a decent neighborhood will cost you $800k.
If the company starts to outsource, then they are cutting costs. You are probably the next in line to go. With management skills, you can go for software manager position, but you will most likely need leetcode for the interviews. If you want a better paying job, you should consider relocation.
Yeah I'm firing up leetcode this weekend. After so long in a management space your skillset gets locked into day to day business of the job ... not transferable skills. It's funny I literally hadn't searched for software manager positions yet. I was too busy looking at engineering jobs. Thanks for the suggestion. Oh and yeah relocating isn't off the menu.
Hahaha true.
That's not what treason is.
You are wise to get ready now. It takes a long time if you have not prepared for tech interviews for a while. Nowadays tech teams prefer managers who can roll up the sleeves / be hands on if needed. Take online courses and practice. Start networking. Many people have left att in recent layoffs. Where did your friends go? Tell them you are open...
Thanks. Yeah I plan to be over prepared when I start applying next year.
Couple of thoughts, depending on where you are 100k is pretty solid comp for the southeast with maybe the exception of Atlanta. The clock is ticking, You probably have 6 months before they roll in someone from india to do the work you are doing since that person will cost 30% what you do and outsourcing is about saving so they will drive 95% of the work offshore, this is the model AMD we can debate all the ways ot sucks but that is how it works
Yes truth. It's how its designed. Companies drive down the cost of an worker. . . plain and simple. So moving to somewhere that appreciates and can afford a proper salary is paramount. Trust me I get it. What I'm struggling with now is if i want to do this same type of job, and mess around and get outsourced again in 10 years.
You have experience managing teams of SDETs. Lean on that management experience, polish your resume. My advice would be to not get too caught up in leetcode. Definitely practice coding and system design to prove technical competence but invest in that management experience. As for getting outsourced, think of roles that are more difficult to outsource... So far, writing code is still a skilled job and hasn't been automated away. Managing teams of such people by definition is also safer than managing teams of QA/SDET.
Leave. You don't want to be anywhere near this job or Tech Mahindra.
Someone has to manage these 🐈 in India. They’ll produce garbage output unsupervised from stateside. Did you explore possibilities to become outsourcing manager here?
I have to agree management is necessary especially offshore. It's actually what I'm doing. The team I manage is 100% techM. So I could continue that path indeed. I'll explore my options. Thanks for the suggestion.
I worked with outsourcing teams and see how stateside managers underestimate the local footprint required to make the arrangements work. In my estimation you need 10-15% headcount onsite with your own people calling the shots. So I think outsourcing management experience is very valuable but it’s under appreciated in many companies.