I recently retired (maybe\u2026). It\u2019s either an early retirement, or a few months off before I look for a new \u2018couple year\u2019 job. I\u2019m not yet 65, but I walked away from my job because it was problematic \u2014 and I needed a break. Below are the factors that led me to quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COMPANY<\/strong> Tech Workers<\/strong> Process<\/strong> Plus, the employees need to take a dozen online classes \u2014 essentially the same ones every year. Also requiring scores of hours of time. Classes like: how to talk about Salesforce, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further, there are recurring presentations (every other month ish) from each group, on the details of what they are planning to accomplish over the next handful of months, and their confidence on success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, I probably spent 20%? 25%? of my time on process, rather than just turning the crank and getting things done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ROLE<\/strong> My job role for the past few decades across multiple tech companies has been project\/program manager \u2014 which means that I own getting things done (e.g., producing products). I\u2019ve been very successful in this role across many companies, including all of my previous roles at Salesforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To accomplish my job, I need to communicate and enforce the needed development processes. In my last role at Salesforce, the group managers that I was supporting wouldn\u2019t follow the processes I needed from them. Some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was working 50-60 hours a week trying to make things happen but, because the management I was supporting wasn\u2019t doing needed actions \u2014 we weren\u2019t necessarily focused on the right things, and weren\u2019t accurately tracking progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This all came to a head when one of the VPs I was supporting complained to my management that I wasn\u2019t doing a good job. Rather than connecting with me on the \u2018real\u2019 situation, my management believed the VP, and created a detailed list of \u2018improvement\u2019 items I needed to do. I started chipping away at the list, but it was unnecessary items that were taking even more of my time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MY HEAD<\/strong> My wife and I were regularly chatting with a couples counselor \u2014 who suggested that I may be \u2018on the spectrum\u2019 (be autistic). I read about being \u2018on the spectrum\u2019 and honestly thought that this could be true of me. I was subsequently tested for autism and ADHD \u2014 and they concluded that neither of these were true of me (those with these conditions are not broadly functional, like I am) \u2014 BUT, they concluded that I was depressed, and would benefit from anti-depression medication. I\u2019m now taking this medication, and feel a lot better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DEPARTURE<\/strong> I\u2019ve now been away for two months, have gotten past much of my depression, and am generally in a better place. I still need a bit more recovery, but things are definitely better than they were when I was working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe I\u2019ll stay retired. Maybe I\u2019ll find a job in a few months with a more-sensible tech company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll figure it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently retired (maybe\u2026). It\u2019s either an early retirement, or a few months off before I look for a new \u2018couple year\u2019 job. I\u2019m not yet 65, but I walked away from my job because it was problematic \u2014 and I needed a break. Below are the factors that led me to quit. COMPANYI was … <\/p>\n
I was working for Salesforce \u2014 a well-known \u2018tech company\u2019 that really was very different from typical tech companies. A typical tech company (Salesforce is the ninth tech company I\u2019ve worked for) has a high percentage of tech workers (engineers, etc) and focuses on developing products. Neither of these are true of Salesforce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less than 10% of Salesforce employees are tech workers (engineering) \u2014 crazy. This means that most directional decisions for the company (and contributing groups) are made by non-tech employees. It could be that the existing Salesforce products are 100% complete\/solid, and that the only existing effort needed today is selling\/supporting these products. If this were really the case, then Salesforce has 10 times the number of employees it needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other weirdness about Salesforce is the focus on \u2018how\u2019 to do things. Every year, every employee has to produce a very detailed document on what they will do that year. This document is reviewed\/approved by the employee\u2019s manager, and made available to those that the employee works with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I worked at Salesforce for a little more than 6 years \u2014 in 4 or 5 different roles. Some were great, some not. Without going into the contrast between all my roles, the one that inspired me to part ways with the company was my last role, which I\u2019ll summarize below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other overlay was \u2014 I was very stressed (and depressed<\/em> \u2014 even though I didn\u2019t know this at the time). I was working long hours, crabby to my wife, and still getting beaten up by the work groups I was supporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My long hours and distress, plus other companies regularly reaching out to me to work for them, led me to quit my job at Salesforce. It wasn\u2019t worth the unhappiness. (It\u2019s interesting that the person in my same role with this same group quit the company a year ago \u2014 likely for the same reasons.) I did put together very structured guidance on what went wrong, and how to (potentially) make the right things happen \u2014 for the next person taking over my role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n