Thread regarding Comcast layoffs

The nuance here is that political systems do work. However, political systems must be based on honor and principles - and A LOT of education and intellectual honesty. The moment you corrupt a political system, all bets are off. Good, healthy politics can go a long way.

Regarding the hiring of individuals who lack basic technical knowledge, I find it curious that software is the only engineering that allows someone to design infra structure without having a degree - or anything that resembles qualification. In any other engineering context, one must have not only a degree, but maintain a license in order to touch anything. If we were building airplanes or oil platforms, most of Comcast's "technical leaders" wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a job site, by law.

I agree the problem is not limited to engineering, it impacts all verticals - its a moral problem, so cross cutting. But, if we want to regard ourselves as a technology company, then we must accept that engineering is sacred. Everything else is built on top of it. If we lack the proper infrastructure to run our services and build our features, we are dead on arrival.

GPO spent the last few years paying PWC for advice on restructuring, lay offs and systems redesign - to no benefit. Since 2022, most of the stuff we designed is garbage. It looks great on a power point presentation, but it cant be delivered in production. We are currently in a broken state across the board, and even if McKinseys was to get the restructuring right this time, it would take us a couple of years at least to get our ducks in a row so we can at least go to market with something other that a rebranding.

Comcast cannot persuade potential customers to purchase internet and security that was designed by amateurs. Entertainment maybe, but not internet and security. This sh-t is serious. There is real liability in failure. Much less can we compete with real technology companies with sharp, intelligent, competent leadership.

The good news is that there is an abundance of technical talent at Comcast. What we lack is LEADERSHIP. Comcast's problem is exclusively unintelligent, unqualified, dishonest leadership - not engineering. And if we go ahead with massive scale lay offs before we fix leadership, Comcast doesn't stand a chance.

@a5 I bet a lot of employees have seen this and those higher are simply ignoring it……seems easier especially when these certain candidates are located elsewhere most of the time. Most people don’t want to speak up either. It’s costing so many good highly skilled people their jobs. A buck saved for lower talent and friends is more important than understanding who they are, their background, schooling, experience and actual skills. This is not just in engineering. It’s all ludicrous. No wonder the company is where it’s at.

@c8 Government Affairs too

As others have already pointed out, it’s not just within engineering but throughout the company, be it TPO, GTO, EBI, CX, and more. So many layers and orgs working to appease their leaders and execs and not reporting on the truth but just showing the ‘good’ numbers across all fronts. We have teams like product, consumer and competitive research, base management and somehow none can seem to nail down why we are losing so much in broadband and what consumers actually want? So many products in the past 10 years (NOW, XB10, heck even FDX) were complete and utter failures due to the ignorance starting from the top and trickling down to their reports of which the actual data surrounding ongoing issues continue to be ignored.

@a5 this isn't just with engineering. It's rampant throughout the entire company.

Questionable Hiring Practices and Lack of Accountability

One of the most shocking things I witnessed during my time in the organization was the hiring of individuals who appeared to lack even the basic technical knowledge required for their respective positions.

Even more concerning, I became aware of instances where someone else allegedly attended or completed technical interviews on behalf of the actual candidates. Despite these serious concerns about the authenticity of the recruitment process, some of those individuals are still employed within the organization.

How is this acceptable in an Engineering Division?

If someone can secure a technical position without demonstrating the required knowledge or personally completing the interview process, what does that say about the company’s recruitment standards, technical evaluation procedures, and management oversight?

What is even more disturbing is the apparent lack of accountability. How can individuals with questionable qualifications continue working for years while genuinely skilled and experienced engineers face layoffs supposedly because of budget constraints?

It raises an important question: Are technical skills, qualifications, and actual performance still the criteria for employment, or have personal connections and management favoritism become more important?

This is not merely about hiring the wrong person. It is about the potential long-term consequences for the entire organization. When technically unqualified individuals occupy engineering positions, the burden of solving complex problems often falls on the few capable employees who actually understand the systems.

Over time, this creates an unfair working environment where competent engineers carry additional responsibilities while others continue to receive salaries, benefits, and job security without contributing at the same level.

I genuinely wonder whether senior leadership is aware of these practices or whether such concerns are simply being ignored.

If an organization cannot maintain integrity in its hiring process, how can it expect integrity, accountability, and excellence in its engineering operations?

I sincerely hope senior leadership conducts an independent review of recruitment practices, technical interview procedures, employee qualifications, and performance accountability within the division.

An organization should never become a place where knowing the right people matters more than knowing how to do the job.

There’s grandma snake, grandpa snake, papa snake, and snake charmer, you have to be a snake or die.

In short, yes because incompetent people protect each other. If you shine too bright that outshines your manager (due to your years of experience) they will stop at nothing to lie on you, frame you as the problem. Your only recourse is to find a new job and bounce.

Gone are the days promotion are evaluated by talent. It's been close to decade promotions are purely based on PR in engineering roles what a pathetic, great company falling to its knees because of poor leaderships practices.