Episode 480: Do I just coast until I quit and going back to work after a long time

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Sep 29, 2025

A tech lead ignored warnings, leading to a production disaster and ultimately leaving the company, sparking a discussion on toxic work environments. The hosts explore whether one should voice pay and promotion frustrations in exit interviews. They advise on coasting ethically while job hunting and uncover the peculiarities of 'meets expectations' reviews despite outstanding performance. Tips on returning to work after a break highlight easing team concerns and quickly regaining coding skills, emphasizing gratitude and communication.

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ANECDOTE

Ignored Warning Led To Broken Production

The questioner described warning a tech lead who shipped a broken feature, raised alert thresholds, then left the company.
The manager shrugged when told and the asker later received a mediocre review despite overperforming.

ADVICE

Use Exit Interview To Deliver One Clear Point

You can mention being underpaid in your exit interview, but expect limited change since you're already leaving.
Be professional and focus on one clear message to increase the chance HR hears it.

ADVICE

Dial Back Hours And Protect Your Energy

Don't burn out searching for a new job; scale back hours and follow your manager's instruction to do less.
Do reasonable, ethical work and prioritize the job hunt instead of sabotaging the company.

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In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

(follow-up from question 449)

Hello. Return question asker here. You answered my question from episode 449 “my tech lead ignored my warnings”. I want to give a follow up. I sat by and did not say anything else, he shipped the broken feature, and it broke in production. Instead of fixing it he rose the threshold on the datadog alert so high no one would ever get alerted. Then he left the company. When talking to my manager about the bug we agreed it was part of that refactor and I said “I warned him” and they shrugged it off.

I assume he is also a long time listener of this podcast and took the age old “leave your job” advice. Kudos.

(question below)

I am here for more than just an update though. I am starting to think I understand why he left. It sucks here. I am the lowest level engineer on my team and have not been promoted for the last 2 years because “there is no money”. Ok, fine, I understand that the economy is tough. However I have increased the revenue of my department by 4x, have lead the development of our flagship product this entire year, have been teaching engineers new technology and have been working 60 hour weeks. On a team of 6 I do 33% of the work. 2x what is expected of any one engineer. This last week I received a “meets expectations” performance review. And I am mad. In 1-1’s with my boss they explicitly tell me “I am not saying to sandbag but just do less work. Your teammates are getting compared to you and its making everyone look bad.”

Don’t worry Dave and Jamison, I am going to quit this job so I don’t need that advice, however you can throw it in if you like, but I’m wondering how do I handle this? Do I confront my manager in the next 1-1 with the data and say I am underleveled and underpaid or do I just take the advice to do less and coast til I find another job? Do I share with HR in the eventual exit interview that this was the straw that broke the camels back?
I’m returning to work after a very long absence due to personal issues. How can I ramp back up quickly? It’s a weird situation because I’m not exactly joining a new job, but it’s been so long that it basically is. I haven’t even opened a code editor in months!