Thread regarding SAS Institute layoffs

Many SAS employees were hired decades ago. The site below ranks Computer Science programs historically:

1980-1990: #24 Duke, #42 UNC, #65 NC State.

1990-2000: #21 Duke, #47 NC State, #54 UNC.

2000-2010: #27 Duke, #47 NC State, #51 UNC.

NC State has improved its ranking, and their best graduates are fine indeed. But we did not hire only their best.

https://csrankings.org/

@cf

Software engineering was viewed simply as “coding” — a skill that anyone could learn. For that, hiring from local schools was good enough.

OS proved that well enough.

The typical SAS employee's level of disinterest in the entire technology scene, in keeping up to date, in doing anything but backstabbing and warming a chair, was UNTHINKABLE at other large tech companies I’ve worked at and with.

While of course I agree that NC State has the resources to allow students to get a great education, it doesn’t seem to teach the real career skill well: how to keep learning throughout your lifetime.

There are entire departments lorded over by people who have done literally nothing else or worked on a different product for DECADES. Most of these people are NC State graduates.

My theory always was that NC State CS graduates above a 3.5 GPA were made to feel they were entitled or destined to work at SAS, due to the well-known pipeline from NC State to SAS. Once they achieved that goal, they were done. Time to spend a couple hours in midday at the gym, sh-t-talk your colleagues behind their backs, and much on M&Ms for a few decades.

Now that I don’t have to deal with the frustration of having to try to get these people to show the slightest actual interest in their work, I look back and am just sad for them. What a way to live.

perhaps would've been a very good idea 80s-90s. fine enough schools locally, but not really in the tier from which the most brilliant founders dropped out. hiring grad students of professors publishing new techniques (in R) was perhaps slightly helpful, but probably irrelevant like reorganizing deck chairs on the Titanic when python, saas, big data, etc., and gen AI were in the process of taking over

We UNCH grads would never denigrate our colleagues.

Denigrate means to belittle or put down. 😏

“ And the truly stupid people will think that spending $$ on college is a fool’s errand so they’ll join the cult of imbeciles lining up for the Darwin Awards.

What’s your point?”

Somebody got triggered. I’m guessing you spent 200k on school…

My very obvious point was that you don’t need to break the bank to get an education…
And when it comes to college it is most definitely not a case of you get what you pay for.
It is a case of you get whatever you put into it effort wise. Not money wise.

Hope that clears it up for you.

Darwin awards indeed.

@cr Same experience here. To add to your points. that unjustified confidence held by some UNCCH grads can be persistent for years in spite of efforts to tone it down.

The truly smart people will understand that spending 200 grand on college doesn’t make sense

And the truly stupid people will think that spending $$ on college is a fool’s errand so they’ll join the cult of imbeciles lining up for the Darwin Awards.

What’s your point?

The truly smart people will understand that spending 200 grand on college doesn’t make sense and that going to a less “elite” school is the smart play.

With both founders from NCSU, it's understandable that grads from NC State are naturally and more likely highly favored over other (local on non-local) schools.

Former manager, have hired many from NC schools as well as others outside of NC. For software development, technical support, consulting, the overall rankings shared by the OP matter very little .Eagerness to learn and a humble attitude matter more. Of all the NC schools mentioned, a UNCCH graduatie more often not presented an unjustified attitude of knowing more than than reality proved. They presented this much more frequently than mone UNCCH grads. Confidence is a wonderful thing only when there is walk that can accompany the talk.

Historically, SAS has been willing to hire nationwide, even worldwide, for statisticians. SAS had a truly world-class group in that field -- from NCSU and many other schools.

Software engineering was viewed simply as “coding” — a skill that anyone could learn. For that, hiring from local schools was good enough.

Also, SAS never paid enough to hire from the top schools. Engineers from Stanford and MIT can seek riches in Silicon Valley. They aren’t coming to NC unless they get rewarded.

The same logic applied to sales, marketing, and other functions. The local schools were viewed as good enough, and even if SAS believed a Harvard degree was superior, they wouldn’t pay for it.

This is no knock on NCSU. The top 10% of NCSU grads would be considered valuable assets at any company anywhere. But we didn’t hire only the top 10%.

The school means next to nothing. The student is what matters.

If SAS can hire from among the top 5% at NC State versus from among the median quintile at top-20 schools, does it really matter? Not saying SAS can or does, just pointing out that stellar potential for high performance, innovative employees is not limited by where they receive their education.

Did not attend NC State myself, but did spend a long career working with many very smart, effective people at SAS, some who are Wolfpack. Also, isn’t NC State ranked pretty high as an engineering/computer science school in contrast to its overall ranking?

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/north-carolina-state-university-at-raleigh-02132

All that said, the OP is correct that the net could be cast wider. Probably a lot going on behind the scenes to favor Wolfpacks. Just a guess 😉

https://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/