Thread regarding Northwestern Mutual layoffs

Schmooze or Lose, Code Be Damned

The tech team’s culture is a masterclass in exploiting the need for networking in the field while treating actual engineering like a thankless chore. Most “management” here are too busy kissing up to non-engineers and flaunting their “connections” like they’re auditioning for a C-suite reality show or getting a millionaire customer on the books. The company leans hard into the field’s obsession with who-knows-who, we-ponizing it to reward political players at HO over producers. Meanwhile, engineers who grind out solid code and keep the systems humming? We’re just background noise, expected to bow to the schmooze gods. Skip a “networking” DEI event to debug a critical issue? You’re “not strategic.” It’s a ridiculous game where pleasing non-techies and chasing clout trumps building anything real. Time to value the code that drives the business, not the connections! 😅


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| 2741 views | | 11 replies (last October 21) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1k7a3xpcb

11 replies (most recent on top)

I was an M2 and was forced out of my role earlier this year when I started speaking more openly about the BS I saw in the organization, such as DEI and technical bloat, rattling some of the higher brass's cages. I ended up getting a 2/5 review and basically being told I needed to improve on things even though my team held me in high regard.

I just found out too I was replaced by a very close personal friend of my former M3.

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Post ID: @1mg+1k7a3xpcb

@1d engineers automate and accelerate the business, the people who manages the engineers and technology functions are we discussing in the thread! This is again the moochers exploiting the ambiguity of real business done by the business functions! Nice try. You survive by exploiting engineers and pitting them against each other

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Post ID: @1er+1k7a3xpcb

You are oblivious to how the company makes money to a point it is utterly disgusting. Engineers don’t make money, they spend it.

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Post ID: @1dw+1k7a3xpcb

@v5 Truer words have never been spoken. The "team leaders" will jump all over your success, claim it as their own. And, God forbid you mess up, you're all alone and drowning.

I swear, when I worked there, I'd do a ki-ler job on something, and my immediate supervisor took all the accomplishments. Got Bravo points and all the accolades. Me? I ended up in the unemployment lines.

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Post ID: @11s+1k7a3xpcb

@jr 80IQ take of the day

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Post ID: @119+1k7a3xpcb

Most mid level management staff in tech departments are the commissars who doesn’t produce or contribute anything to this world! They leach of and exploit other humans! They go on and brand themselves as social justice warriors just to one up themselves over their victims

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Post ID: @v5+1k7a3xpcb

@fr The tech clowns here and all across the industry are arrogant and completely out of touch, this is why the businesses are now obsessed with getting rid of them. Tech is a cost center that is becoming totally commoditized so all that matters now for survival is who you know and if you are well liked

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Post ID: @jr+1k7a3xpcb

@fr Yeah intentionally convoluting actual business with engineering work! You are an exploiter. The DEi co-mies must take a look at why is the tech workers are paid so low over you lazy overlords exploiting real hard workers

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Post ID: @g3+1k7a3xpcb

Our culture is a comedy goldmine where tech department managers who’ve hardly touched a line of code parade around like tech titans, all thanks to their “networking” prowess. These folks exploit the industry’s obsession with connections, schmoozing with political DEi bullies in higher-ups and taking credit for every win like they personally debugged the codebase. Meanwhile, actual engineers—y’know, the ones sweating over quality and shipping features—are treated like stagehands at their networking gala. “Great sprint? That’s because I am in same ERG event with the VP!” they boast, while we’re stuck fixing their “strategic vision” (aka broken APIs). It’s a laughable scam where glad-handing non-engineer managers hog the spotlight, and coding is just the grunt work they take credit for. Time to give props to the real builders, not the name-droppers!

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Post ID: @g2+1k7a3xpcb

Oh absolutely — how dare a 165-year-old financial company try to balance engineering with, you know, actual business relationships. The nerve of leadership thinking client engagement, compliance, or cross-team collaboration might matter alongside your Git commits. If only we’d let the codebase run HR, sales, and strategy too — maybe it’d debug the entire company culture while it’s at it.

But please, don’t let reality interrupt your TED Talk on “real engineers vs. fake networkers.” I’m sure when systems go down, your disdain for “schmoozing” will heroically restore production — powered solely by your righteous indignation and the faint glow of Stack Overflow tabs.

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Post ID: @fr+1k7a3xpcb

You will be replaced by AI or cheap labor! Go away! Find something valuable

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Post ID: @bm+1k7a3xpcb

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