I’m an immigrant working in the USA, I came here because of the promise of a better tomorrow, a meritocracy, a seat at the table at big tech, and for a while it felt real but then my company was acquired by a larger entity and it all went to shit, now I’m in a race to show I’m the most competent and dedicated person with the most technological knowledge to keep my job and not get layed off.
If I ask my manager or my director a question or challenge their thought process I get called into a 1 on 1 meeting where I’m told I’m a great asset to the team but me asking questions of them in a team setting sets a bad example, and my questions aren’t in bad faith infact in the meeting I was lauded for asking the right questions, but being pulled aside and being asked to kiss the ring felt disgusting.
At one point in my career I cared about what I did and who I worked for I felt pride over my product and my team, and all I feel now is shame to be associated with my company, I feel disgusted with myself that I work not for my customers but for shareholder value.
So I guess my question if any is are there still companies that exist in the USA or outside that still give a fuck about what they’re doing and not just inflate that companies value so it can be sold or keep the stock price going up.
I would love to live and work somewhere where my value isn’t determined by how much money I van make or how much shareholder value I increase, I wouldn’t have to worry about a visa and if I can/will be kicked out if I’m no longer employed.
I could go back home but the work culture there is atrocious it was the reason why I had left, I lasted 5 months and I couldn’t take it and put in my 2 weeks to go to the US for a Masters degree in Computer Sciences.
I’m sorry that this turned into more of a rant than anything else but I’m at a point where I don’t really know what I want to do anymore, any advice or conversation is appreciated.
Thank you for your response sadly I can’t explain better without divulging internal information and politics, while I agree with you that influence and politics would be an issue everywhere as a manager or a director there are ways to shield your employees from higher ups which doesn’t happen here, we are thrown under the bus until I have to step in and explain what happened, why it happened and defend my coworkers, I have had better managers and directors and this was more of a poor manager/director in my opinion. My manager, director, all the up to the VP are from India and they are bringing the same culture from India the one I came here to get away from. It’s disheartening to hear “get with the program” from y’all, dont get me wrong but there are jobs where people don’t have to deal with this, my previous manager before the acquisition and him being layed off cared enough that this kind of non sense wouldn’t even reach me, especially stuff like this from a director, and y’all telling me “suck it up” doesn’t feel too good.