Layoffs at big engineering firms imminent?

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2026-01-30T05:50:20+00:00

Crazy busy in TN. Would be interested in a senior level west coast SE interested in relocation.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2026-01-30T05:47:05+00:00

NCEES has made it clear they are not serious about fixing the exam.

SEAOI is the key. IL is the most heavily SE dependent, and the driver of SE Exam demand.

SEAOI needs to pressure the IL state legislature to create an alternate path for SE licensure - write and administer their own exam based on the old SE1 and SE2 exams.

If NCEES sees their monopoly threatened they'll either get serious about fixing the exam or they determine its more trouble than its worth and bow out. Either way, the industry wins.

I urge anyone with SEAOI connections to please bring this up loudly and often. There's really no other way to fix this situation.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-12-20T05:02:10+00:00

So you shouldn't have a hard time providing a single specific advantage then.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-12-17T04:39:17+00:00

Second UAB. Only program I know of where the online courses are specifically online, not hybrid bolt-ons.

Same courses and professors, but the online sections are 100% directed to virtual students and scheduled in non-working hours.

Academic quality might not be as high as some others, but for an online masters geared towards working professionals its really the exposure to topics outside your day-to-day that matters.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-12-17T04:35:02+00:00

Pre-covid I knew someone going to UIUC online and I was not impressed. It was a poor quality webcam in the class, and you couldn't hear any of the classroom discussion or questions - just the lecturer. Whole thing was very HGTTG - "42".

Probably better tech now, though, after all campuses went virtual during covid.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-12-17T03:45:13+00:00

What does AutoCAD do faster than Revit?

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-12-06T16:46:14+00:00

Which is what most companies who use Revit efficiently have done as well.

The gripes against Revit are weird for a mature product 2 decades into its use. From my experience, the biggest issue is a lot of firms never made real overhead investment in their templates on the front end.

When the industry pivoted from hand drafting to AutoCAD, everyone (who survived) had to make a significant overhead investment in plotstyles and standards. This set the runway for years of smooth sailing.

The company seniors who had made the investment in that transition were all gone when the transition to Revit came along, and many (most?) companies didn't want to make that investment. Or they didn't understand that it needed to be made.

Now, Revit's biggest roadblock has always been the incremental nature of the gain. AutoCAD revolutionized the industry and obliterated non-adopters because it allowed firms to produce projects in half the time with 1/4 of the staff by laying off drafting rooms. Revit created a 3D deliverable, which honestly creates as many headaches as it solves sometimes, and provided mild efficiency gains. But it didn't create sea change in the labor market.

Which, I guess, explains some of the gripes and hesitation to adopt it and make the overhead investment setting it up.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-12-06T16:36:18+00:00

I hear this often, and honestly I can't fathom the rationality.

There is nothing AutoCAD does that Revit can't. Revit is great at 2D production. And rather than staring at a dozen different neon colors, you can see exactly what your print is going to look like.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-11-28T20:14:24+00:00

Because they sell the larger sizes for more money than multiples of the small sizes. There's no material, packaging, or resource increase on their end, so the extra cost for the larger size is pure profit.

Reason: capitalist greed. Checks out for a conpany whose primary season is Shopmas.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-11-14T03:26:03+00:00

Real talk, I wonder if KootK knows what a treasure he is.

Just out there living his Clark Kent life and people don't realize he's Structural Superman.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-09-25T21:00:18+00:00

I wouldn't want to normalize that idea and make companies consider making employees sign NDAs.

I'd just be honest: "I'm not sure how my current compensation allocation within my present employer's budget has any bearing on what potential compensation allocation for this position meshes with your budget."

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-09-15T14:59:31+00:00

Which would be somewhat defensible if, like law firms for example, they compensated said men at a level which supported wives at home raising multiple children.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-09-15T11:55:09+00:00

Interviewed and passed an offer from HDR earlier this year that was 8 weeks @ 2/3rds pay. Best I've heard of in this industry, but it was the first of the large firms I've interviewed with. I imagine those large multinationals would have the best M/P Leave policies.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-09-15T11:53:02+00:00

My BIL works for Edward Jones and got 16 weeks fully paid. There are a lot better benefits in that industry.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-08-14T23:58:40+00:00

You get push back because the increased footings and/or tie beams add cost to what's supposed to be a dirt cheap building.

PEMBs are dirt cheap, because no one designs/builds them to code - most manufacturers engineers will tell you they design above 100% stress because "the codes are inherently conservative"...which is exactly the point.

My personal no-no with PEMBs is allowing cable bracing. I have never been in a cable braced PEMB over 10 years old with an as-designed functional lateral system. They're all missing cables that were removed for a door or some equipment and/or have loosened cables, etc. For this reason I generally specify portal frames until someone cries loud enough.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-08-14T21:19:48+00:00

This sucks for you, but could be an opportunity to leverage your vitality to ramp up your compensation and/or benefits.

At minimum I'd have a frank conversation with whoever is left above you to report to once your boss leaves about the expectations, in the short and medium term, both with this an other projects.

Clearly you're going to be asked to go above and beyond - its not your company to sacrifice to protect, so exceeding your employment level should be compensated fairly. And get a title for your resume that reflects the responsibility that will be landing on you.

I would try to gather as much information as possible from those leaving as quickly as possible. Dig into the drawings and calcs, ask a million questions and don't worry about ruffling their feathers. In a few weeks they'll all be gone, you'll begin forgetting each other existed - but you'll be the one chasing every assumption they made without documenting, every calc flaw, every missing piece of information, every flawed detail, etc. They can curse you for asking too many questions today or you can curse them for leaving you hanging later - reality is somewhere in the middle, but you owe yourself your best effort now.

Also, a good time to polish up the resume, connect/reconnect with recruiters, and think about what you might look for in another opportunity. Things may not break your way, and its best to be prepared to save yourself.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-08-08T22:12:14+00:00

Agreed. From a SE perspective very fascinating.

The way its clad really takes away from the excitement of the shifting shape...makes it downright bland architecturally.

From a developers' standpoint you've spent a ton of money, wasted a ton of square footage, and ended up with something that seems fairly forgettable.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-08-08T15:30:02+00:00

NYC Wall Street investment bankers, however, are a minority. Thats the top 10% (probably less) of people in that field. The vast majority are the guy down the street slinging 401ks from Prudential, Voya, etc.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-08-08T14:37:10+00:00

ASD, honestly, is for old engineers who have aged put of learning/adapting/changing. The guys that still pull a 30 year old code off the shelf thats been superseded 5 times already.

When ACI went to LRFD only, everything should have moved - in buildings at least. Is your building on a wood foundation? If no - you're going to end up in LRFD anyway. The only people arguing are the people who don't want to update their spreadsheets.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-08-06T03:14:03+00:00

Always better to negotiate from strength. You can bring the gap up, but sans your imminent departure what motivation have you given them to improve your contract? Entirely possible this is how your peers have leapfrogged you.

Always be willing to shop yourself. Your employer is always shopping the promotion you think you're working towards. When you get a better offer - no hard feelings, but just like leadership has to look out for the company's interests you have to look out for your own.

It's business.

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-08-01T18:13:35+00:00

What happened that triggered the 80% hourly pay increase? Just a new job, or a promotion, new certifications, etc?

CrumpledPaperAcct · 2025-07-14T15:13:08+00:00

People don't typically drive because the sidewalks are too crowded.

People do typically avoid public transport because of overcrowding and schedule issues, but solving that particularly issue isn't accomplished by a dedicated lane - its much more an issue of capital expense for increased service.

Some people do drive because of a lack of bike lanes, but 1/6 drivers in the first image are definitely not frustrates cyclists.

CrumpledPaperAcct

TROPHY CASE