The only reason why I'm still here is that my retirement is so close that I can practically taste it. If I had even just a few years left, I'd be on my way out. This is not the same company I joined decades ago and I'm sad to see what it has turned into. When politics become more important than anything else, you know it's time to leave, one way or another.
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But it hasn’t been the same company for a while now, has it?
Here’s an example: I remember when the company used to actively encourage its engineers to be part of IEEE and other professional organizations and contribute to the standards we are often certified to. Haven’t seen that in about 15 years. Needs to be 100% on your own time. Unless, of course, you’re one of the “chosen” within an organization.
What’s an absolute slap in the face is being asked to take time out of my day to review and comment, then participate on the work these people do, but again, I can’t charge my time for the Lockheed-sponsored effort. Unethical much?
I left a few years back for higher pay and better benefits with one of our competitors. Quickly learned that LM may be the biggest, but they definitely don’t treat their people anywhere close to the best.
That was proven when one of the first things that my new employer asked me was whether I’d be willing to get back to some of the professional organizations I’d used to contribute to by co-writing standards and working with new technologies in the labs to make sure that we had a competitive edge in the field.
These are the very same things LM would balked at when we’d ask about them when I was there.
Sounds like nothing’s changed.
Good luck with your remaining time there. Try to stay sane.