Date:         Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:31:20 -0400
Reply-To:     Lou <lpogodajr292185@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Lou <lpogodajr292185@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: SAS job levels redux
Comments: To: sas-l@uga.edu

"Wanda Upole" <Wanda_Upole@HGSI.COM> wrote in message
news:OF9F363610.57EA6C54-ON85257376.004AEDFD-85257376.004B97A2@hgsi.com...
> To this I can only say that if these are your true attitudes, you should
> find another profession.  Obviously your values are very different from
> mine, so I'm not going to try to argue with you.
>
> In any case, I didn't mean to start a discussion of the merits of changing
> the system.  I'm just asking for examples.  So, I'm going to repeat the
> original question:
> Does your organization, or one you know of, have a system where technical
> people can advance without moving into management?  And can you give me
> specific details?

I've never heard of an organization that has an unlimited technical track,
one where a programmer can earn pay increases in excess of inflation for an
indefinite number of years, extending possibly up to the entire duration of
a person's career.  I know of several organizations, including the one where
I currently work, that will allow a person to settle into a niche and work
there indefinitely, so long as the business conditions remain more or less
stable.  I know of no organizations where business conditions remain more or
less stable for periods as long as an individual's career.

Other than possibly, organizations like the Federal government.  And even
there, my brother got laid off from the Army (that's not what they called
it, of course, but a rose by any other name...).