Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Leaving Intel

Today is my last day at Intel.

I leave with mixed feelings. At this point, I'm pretty happy to be starting something new (I'm going to Mentor Graphics). But I am sad to leave a lot of good friends, a very good group, and an exciting project with great potential.

For those who don't know the story (earlier, posts, are, here): the division decided that telecommuting was bad. I've been successfully telecommuting for 7 years now, but this was no longer allowed. I was told to move or quit, and after weighing the benefits of staying versus leaving, it was obvious I should leave.

I really liked the project and team I worked on, I think we wrote some pretty good software (doing things nobody else in the world has done yet). However, the department head who took over about two years ago has made lots of changes, and in the last year to year and a half, morale in the department has sunk and there is (still) a lot of uncertainty about the future. So, while I like the people in my immediate group, it's still unclear they will remain a team for more than a year. So... why stay with a team that may not be there?

I realize the new policy (no telecommuting) was not personal, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I certainly wish my old team the best of luck and continued success.

For me, however, it's time for a fresh start.

Note: For those who don't know, I live in Corvallis - which is at least a 90 minute commute to Intel.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are collateral damage in the war against whining. Fortunately, though, the battle against whining has been won and victory has been declared!

Aren't all Intel (TMG) employees better off now that their executives no longer have to hear complaints that "so-and-so group over there gets to telecommute more than we do, wahhhhh"? It's such a relief that the executives have decisively stopped the whiners with just one fell cluster-f*ck swoop.

Anonymous said...

Probably a smart move. The smartest people I've known have made the decision to leave Intel. Based on my observations if you decide to stay your only rewards will be alcoholism, divorce and/or heart attack.