The reason might be that union members give a percentage of their income to a governing body which is barely distinct from organized crime in which they have no say in. The federal government already exists. You really want more boots on your neck?
I kinda agree with you, more boots is not really an ideal way to achieve this. Worker protections should come from the government itself, so much so that there is no need to form unions, like how it is at many places in Europe. I don't see how that could be created in the US though. I think trade unions are more their vibe - or not even that, of course, like in case with you. And of course, in US history we can see how some organization grow and get a life on their own, like the NRA. Not necessarily remaining on the path to protect past principles, or the welfare of the people.
Do you want to work with LLMs or H1Bs and interns… choose wisely.
Personally I’m thrilled that I can get trivial, one-off programs developed for a few cents and the cost of a clear written description of the problem. Engaging internal developers or consulting developers to do anything at all is a horrible experience. I would waste weeks on politics, get no guarantees, and waste thousands of dollars and still hear nonsense like, “you want a form input added to a web page? Aw shucks, that’s going to take at least another month” or “we expect to spend a few days a month maintaining a completely static code base” from some clown billing me $200/hr.
You can work with consulting oriented engineers who get shit done with relatively little stress and significant productivity. Productivity enhanced by AI but not replaced by it. If interested, reach out to me.
This is why civil design software has not meaningfully improved in 20 years and is indistinguishable from its state 10 years ago. We’re living in a Dark Age. We just don’t realize it.
I am an engineer at an AEC firm you would probably recognize. I think there are a few competing products in this space. Owners don’t care how you do CEI or have their own absurd rituals pioneered in the 60s or 80s. DOTs are the worst offenders and their project delivery practices are largely 80+ years old.
My unsolicited advice is I would expect Owner-side administrators (IT people) to direct sales decisions, and they don’t care about users or working products. I have only ever met one CTO in the AEC space who even considered end user benefit. Unfortunately, this means your product quality and utility is not actually important as evidenced by the whole Bentley product line, but integration with existing products is. Nobody seems to make big money in tech for white-collar AEC unless Bentley or Autodesk buy your IP. Then they will crudely bolt it onto their garbage software and their missionaries embedded in large companies disguised as technologists and CAD managers will sell it.
My opinion is con-tech is totally broken for very complicated reasons with the private market (commercial architecture) being the only small voice of sanity since they compete on price sometimes.
I appreciate your perspective, and while I agree that owners often drive sales decisions, I have to disagree on the idea that they don't care how inspections are performed.
In our experience, owners do care because inspection practices directly affect the quality, consistency, and timeliness of the final reports delivered to their clients. These reports significantly influence client satisfaction and future business decisions.
We’ve spoken with end clients who receive these inspection reports, and they consistently tell us that the quality of the documentation plays a major role in their choice of consulting partner. So while integration with existing systems is critical, we also believe strongly that the usability and quality of the product matter, because they shape the company’s external image.
We probably should just stop enforcing copyright. “Stealing” my idea doesn’t deprive me of its use. Think about what the US market might look like if scaling and efficiency were rewarded rather than legal capture of markets. That large companies can buy and bury technology IP to maintain a market position is a tremendous loss for the rest of us.
My employer is tightening the screws. I get it. RTO externalizes costs and privatizes benefit. The incentives are not aligned for remote work, and it’s a publicly traded firm with an obligation to maximize shareholder value. I get it. While middle management should know if line of business employees are actually producing useful work, regardless of location, expecting 40 or 50-somethings to be engaged at work and not spend their day running personal errands is not realistic. So physical presence is the shareholders’ only option.
I see it as a pay cut where commute and prep hours are uncompensated, and I adjust my valuation of the job accordingly.
