Agent Cooper (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} agentcooper) wrote,@ 2008-12-10 11:37:00 |
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Agent of the apparatus
The majority of my job, now, is providing tech support and guidance to engineers in India, who have taken over everything I used to do.
But what really blows my mind is their insane bureaucracy.
They needed an SD memory card, like you'd use in a digital camera. To bring one into the building they had to email my boss in Redmond for permission. Then they needed permission from their project manager. They had to register the SD card with an "intake manager." They had to indicate they'd be using it for approximately one year. They're subject to regular search on entry/exit to ensure the card never leaves the building.
Un-fucking-believable.
I have my own sordid involvement in the gumming of the gears. I am an apparatchik.
I spend most of my time double-checking their work. Which means quickly, deeply, and simultaneously understanding five or six technical investigations. Just so I can have the background to judge their decisions as correct or needing improvement. I could do all the same work for LESS EFFORT.
After six months, I have no confidence that I can allow any of them to touch our product without supervision. They work very hard, they just don't have adequate problem-solving and decision-making skills. They don't make progress. Or they provide bad quick-fixes.
My boss flew to India for a tour. "Outsourcing is what their company does, their bread and butter." 100,000 employees. Each person gets three months of post-university bootcamp and has to pass aptitude tests. "They're young; they don't have families; they work crazy hours; they're married to their jobs."
He doesn't understand why they're unproductive; he shoots a glance at me.
The majority of my job, now, is providing tech support and guidance to engineers in India, who have taken over everything I used to do.
But what really blows my mind is their insane bureaucracy.
They needed an SD memory card, like you'd use in a digital camera. To bring one into the building they had to email my boss in Redmond for permission. Then they needed permission from their project manager. They had to register the SD card with an "intake manager." They had to indicate they'd be using it for approximately one year. They're subject to regular search on entry/exit to ensure the card never leaves the building.
Un-fucking-believable.
I have my own sordid involvement in the gumming of the gears. I am an apparatchik.
I spend most of my time double-checking their work. Which means quickly, deeply, and simultaneously understanding five or six technical investigations. Just so I can have the background to judge their decisions as correct or needing improvement. I could do all the same work for LESS EFFORT.
After six months, I have no confidence that I can allow any of them to touch our product without supervision. They work very hard, they just don't have adequate problem-solving and decision-making skills. They don't make progress. Or they provide bad quick-fixes.
My boss flew to India for a tour. "Outsourcing is what their company does, their bread and butter." 100,000 employees. Each person gets three months of post-university bootcamp and has to pass aptitude tests. "They're young; they don't have families; they work crazy hours; they're married to their jobs."
He doesn't understand why they're unproductive; he shoots a glance at me.
