1) Engineering is not a Profession. Why? Name one profession that gives away time for free. Lawyer? Nope. Doctor? Nope. Accountant? Nope. Moneyhell Engineer? Yes!
2) Salary compression: One HR mission is to hire you in from college then slowly suppress your pay increases until in 5 years, you're working at the same annual rate as a new hire college fresh-out. Whoa! What happened? Answer: How do you cook a frog?
3) Three Spheres of Power: 1. Executive ranks, 2. Finance, 3. Human Resources
Notice that Engineering and/or Operations isn't there? While we know they're essential to company performance, the fact remains that any change originating in those groups requires too much time to trickle down to the bottom line. Unlike the Big 3, which at the stroke of a pen can "readjust performance" by (respectively), a well timed leak to Wall Street, extending payment terms to suppliers, and last but never least, drum roll please... employee layoffs! This is why Moneyhell values Engineers or Production Managers somewhere around, "Official Rat-K–ler of Islamabad."
4) Management Excellence is an oxymoron. I worked for dozens and dozens of managers over my career, yet I can count on one hand (with a couple of fingers remaining) how many I considered "excellent" to work for. Most were exiles from Engineering, talentless ticket-punchers, shamelessly sickening sycophants, or outright psychopaths, set to "make a name" for themselves on their way to the top. In contrast, there was a time when managers were marked down at review time for losing an employee to another company; today he gets a Bravo Award from HR.
5) You're only as good as your worst reviewer among many: Since "matrix management" by another name has taken hold at Moneyhell, the likelihood you will be disliked by some manager you never worked with, or for, is very high. Rumors run the gamut during the "totem-pole" sessions and sadly it can all boil down to that unfortunate grimace you made during a gas attack in the hallway, while passing Mr. Bozo. Simply put, Moneyhell is all about "diversity," as long as it doesn't involve personality. Those 12,10,8,? Behaviors must be adhered to by all (except Executives).
6) Why would you want to work for a company that honors its longest serving employees by RIF'ing them every chance it gets? There was a time when PHX employees would compare "Sperry Life Numbers" and be amazed at the guys still around who were only two-digits. They were never laid off, but they did get some incentives to retire. Imagine, all that money Moneyhell spends on Severance Packages, effectively paying employees to stay home and not work, could have just as easily been given as a "golden handshake" to a, date agreed to, retirement. Both company and retiree could enjoy the accomplishment, while celebrating a long-lasting bond, and encouraging younger workers to stick around. Everyone smiles. But nooo, that's not the Moneyhell way! "Let's terminate that cranky old fart, so we can reduce our employee-salary burden, while counting him with those like him in the RIF numbers, so we get a nice stock bump. We can then transfer all his work to 5 guys in India."
Moral of the story: Only work for a company that values its OLDEST employees. Valuing young employees is an HR ruse to make you feel better.
HR Facts:
Their #1 job is to save the company money.
Their #2 job is lawsuit avoidance.
Their #3 job is union avoidance - at all costs!
All their actions make sense once one understands these facts.
This was too good to stay buried in the replies. All credit goes to software industrialist at @lws+19UU05Xb.