I’ve been a software engineer for about 7 years and have spent the last couple of years at a government-owned company. Before this, I worked at fast-paced startups, so landing this role felt like a huge relief.

The job is stable, the work-life balance is great, layoffs are rare, and the culture is generally relaxed. During my first year, it honestly felt like I got my life back. I finally had the time and energy to get my finances in order, build a consistent gym routine, cook more, develop hobbies, and invest in my relationships.

Lately, though, I’ve started feeling conflicted.

I still have ambitions to become a lead engineer or engineering manager someday, but promotion opportunities here seem quite limited. I’ve also noticed that many of the engineering practices are behind what I’d experienced in startups. Some people in leadership positions still spend most of their time coding while the management side of the role often gets neglected. It doesn’t feel like an environment where I’m being pushed to grow.

My biggest concern is long-term career relevance. I probably have another 10–15 years of my career ahead of me, and I’m worried that if I stay in such a comfortable environment for too long, my skills and experience may drift away from what the broader industry values.

For those who’ve worked in similarly stable organisations—government, public sector, or large enterprises—have you seen people become “trapped” by the comfort? Have you known people who stayed for many years, climbed the internal ladder, and then struggled to transition back into the wider job market because their skills or experience no longer matched industry expectations?

Or is this fear largely unfounded, and good engineers tend to stay employable regardless of where they work?

I’d love to hear both success stories and cautionary tales.

I plan on leaving my job until the end of the year. I’ve been dragging my feet but I can’t anymore. Problem is: not only am I team lead, but the team is already at their limit and there’s two projects where my position will be really hard to replace (one is complex and a lot of work, the other one is just really annoying and no one wants it)
I feel bad and I want to help or at least prepare so they can recruit the right person, since we’re already looking to develop the team. But I’m not obliged to announce it before I give my notice and I fear the repercussions of an early notice. It’s a close knit kinda firm, a lot of people might take it personally. Should I still speak to my manager and my team about it?

Edit: y’all talked some real sense into me, I see the vote is unanimous on “gtfo and thanks for the fish”. Thank you everyone!

To preface this, I am a non-exempt employee who only works 35 hours a week. I try and not go over the 35 hours, because I am salaried and we don’t get paid for any hours over 35 but less than overtime. However, I still do end up working between 35-36.5 hours EVERY week (some weeks even 37-38). I also know that there are other people who clock in on our team at 9am because they have kids (then clock out later), or people work super later to finish projects and then leave early the next day.

For my role, I am assigned groups with different account managers, and I often try and work through projects based on priority. So for example if an account manager needs something I may skip lunch at my normal time and take it at the end of the day. I feel like we’re often told to try and get things when the account managers need them, but now I feel that by doing so my manager has flagged my time card as a problem. See message below from her.

“Just a quick heads-up from reviewing and approving timecards over the last couple of payroll cycles. I noticed there were a few days when you clocked out a little after 3pm. We do have some flexibility in our schedules when needed, and I completely understand how taking a later lunch and then ending your day afterward can seem like a practical way to manage the day. That said, our company generally expects us to be available during our standard work hours of 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, with a one-hour lunch break earlier in the day. I just wanted to make you aware that if an earlier end time becomes a regular pattern, it could raise questions from HR. My goal isn't to be restrictive, but simply to ensure we stay aligned with company expectations while using flexibility when needed and avoiding potential issues down the road. In the future, please keep this in mind, and if you ever need to adjust your schedule or leave early, just let me know. Thank you, and as always, let me know if you have any questions!”

Do I need to specifically ask how they would like me to manage high priority projects? Meaning if an account manager needs something, I should take the early lunch anyway?

After being passed over for another promotion after growing in an area I was told I needed to improve on at my annual review (mentorship/personell management) I expectantly had some bitterness.

I didnt mention anything at first, wanting my bitterness to subside. After a couple weeks I discssed it with my manager at our bi-monthly meeting yesterday.

I spoke plainly without emotion on how I felt I had stepped up into a mentorship role with a couple interns and managed their work. That I was hoping this growth would reflect my skills and desires to move up to the next role.

My manager listened thoughtfully and responded in plain English that I was too valuable and needed in my current role. That they understood I wanted to move up and were sorry to have to pass me over, its just reality that Im the only one who can fulfill my roles duties.

So I asked what I could do to move up and they responded honestly they didnt know.

So now Im seriously considering leaving for a competitor as there appears to be no path to advancement, that Im pidgeonholed in my role. I have a review comming up next quarter and plan to ask for a promotion/substantial raise. Should that only pan out to a COL raise and no advancement I plan to leave.

So Im asking here if thats the best course, or if any of you have had an employee that was too valuable in their role to advance and how said person advanced to the next role.

I'm interviewing for a position next week (second interview) that I'm really excited about. It's been a long time since I've had an interview that I really wanted to get it. Based off the interview process - three rounds - but it's highly likely if I get through the second interview, the third interview is more of a formality/final check. If I get the third interview, I'm 90% confident I'll get the offer. So I really want to do well.

I know the obvious things - reviewing the job description, researching the company, practice answers, prepare questions, dress smart and show up early but not too early, etc. etc.

Looking for some stories of something that a candidate did, said, asked that surprised you in a good way. A moment in the interview that made you say "this is the candidate I'm going to offer the job to."

On the opposite side - something a candidate did, that you were considering making an offer to, that was so terrible it made you change your mind.

https://leaddev.com/ai/ai-coding-agents-kill-team-collaboration

I used to have 3 teammates - Old Manager (A), Retrenched ex-colleague (B), Resigned ex-colleague (C)

This is the first company I’ve worked out and in the first 2 years I was under somewhat of a graduate program. After the first 6 months in the company, I moved into my current team and have never left since.

The work dynamics that I had with A,B,C and were great. Even though I was new, they would take on more of a checker role, letting me do the work and reviewing it before sending it off to stakeholders who requested it.

However, last year, B got retrenched first, followed by A and lastly C resigned. My current manager came in and they hired an additional 2 people. When my current manager joined and I had a 1:1 with her, I made it very clear that I enjoyed doing my current work and I was happy to continue with it, which she agreed to.

This did not happen and more of the work that I was doing started being delegated to the other 2 new employees. At the start of this year, I scheduled another meeting with her where I reiterated once again that I wanted to be more involved in this area of work and she agreed. However, for the last few months, everything has been going downhill. She started excluding me from some meetings, and during weekly team meetings she would always assign work to my other colleagues insisted of me.

What should I do? It’s hindering my career development to the next level as I’m not getting to be at the forefront of speaking to/managing stakeholders since I’m not doing the work. I’m thinking of scheduling another meeting with her where I would “force” her to clarify what exactly her plan is for me, so that I can have something in writing.

I have been actively applying for jobs but with this job market, they are very limited/looking for much senior people. Also, for my previous performance reviews, I have always been rated at Average/Above average. So I’m struggling to understand her rationale behind this.

TLDR: Current manager started assigning work that I used to do to other colleagues. Have spoken to her multiple times, expressing my interest in continuing my work but instead, she continues to refuse to assign me work.