In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. One of my employees is probably getting laid off, what do I do!?!

   I’m a tech lead / manager for a consultancy and a contract reduction means that one of the people I supervise is likely going to get laid off soon! We’ve found new roles for most of my people, but it’s likely that at least one will get laid off.

   I want to help this person out. How much support is typical for a manager / ex-manager to provide in a job search, and how can I go above and beyond without doing too much?

2. Over the last year, my company has gone through 3 rounds of layoff. The engineering culture has changed dramatically. With the fraction of engineers remaining, I am increasingly concerned that it’s going to be me next. The company’s posture is that everything is “business as usual” and there is nothing to be worried about, but this is what has been said all along. Morale seems to be low with low engagement in department initiatives.

   I am looking for some advice here, if I stay with the company – what is a healthy way to engage with the current culture to build it back up (or evolve it into something new)? If I decide to leave the company – how can I set proper boundaries to prepare for leaving, but remain engaged until a new opportunity arises?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. Hey, long-time listener, listened to almost all episodes now and have been loving it since day 1!!

   I am a senior engineer at FAANG and work 45-50 hours a week and have a lot of cross-org responsibilities. I am lucky to have a beautiful wife and two wonderful young children. I guess, you can imagine how difficult it already is to manage work/life; especially because I am working remote from a different timezone with large dilation.

   I did lots of side projects before I had a family. But I was totally okay leaving all that behind for a great family life. Now, I have been struck by a really cool idea for an AI-based product that intersects with static analysis and my day-to-day work, which I cannot stop thinking about. I am sure that this project would be more than I could handle at the moment without cutting back on anything else.

   The question now really is, how do people with families and FAANG jobs do side projects? Or do they even? Do they have more than 24 hours in one day?

2. Hello! Love the show, one-time contributor :p

   I’m in agony about my recent compensation change regarding my promotion and I am looking for some wise guidance (and if not that, some funny jokes will do).

   Context: I work at a big tech company. I got promoted to a senior engineer, but. I didn’t get a bump to my salary. Instead, the company “indicated” that the raise would happen in six months, at the next performance review, which happened last week.

   What did I end up getting? Nothing :)

   Why? Apparently they have not been giving salary bumps to people who get promoted, and it has enraged people.

   It hurts my pride. I consistently get good performance reviews & peer feedback. People go out of their way to say how good my work is. I have every evidence to say I am a strong performer.

   My manager is very supportive and tried escalating my case. But the company didn’t budge. They did say that “there’s a chance” to “make it right” in 6 months.

   On the one hand it feels petty to leave a company because I didn’t get the raise I wanted, especially when I do really enjoy working here. On the other hand…I am very disappointed.

   What do I do? Do I stick it out for another six months and see what happens? Are there options left other than start prepping myself for interviews?

   You are amazing people. Cheers.

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. I have managed a product for some months now. My previous manager split their team in to mini-teams of 2-3 people. They gave me a small team and plenty of autonomy to own the product and go crazy on it. I had the time of my life as the team lead. I learned a ton and was really developing management skills. My new manager is more hands-on. They want to do things my old manager left space for me to do, like project planning and quarterly planning. Now I feel micro managed when they get involved. I become territorial. It feels like he doesn’t recognize the independence of the mini team. I feel like I’m going backwards and and undoing all the management growth I’ve had, becoming just a software eng who should just keep their head down and work on a task. I don’t know what to do. How do I keep my independence and keep growing, but also get along with the new lead and learn from them in the process?

2. I work as a senior engineer in a large team alongside a few other senior technical leaders. I’ve consistently received positive feedback from my manager about my impact — improving engineering quality, operational excellence, and team communication patterns.

   At the same time, there have been challenges in collaboration and teamwork between other senior leaders and the teams they work closely with.

   My manager has been highly supportive of the projects and changes I propose, and many improvements have been implemented based on my suggestions. However, during the recent promotion cycle, despite this positive feedback, I was not promoted, while another senior engineer — who is known to have collaboration challenges — was promoted instead.

   When I asked for feedback, I was told that while my contributions are appreciated and my time will come, they couldn’t explain the specific factors behind the promotion decision.

   I now feel a bit demotivated, as it seems engineering excellence and team impact may not be the primary factors considered for growth here.

   My question is: How should I think about my next steps? Should I keep investing in this team or start considering other opportunities?