I personally think all organizations want to be cults with unthinking followers. I read every inbound piece from "management" like they are propaganda leaflets with an implied threat of violence. It helps.
I have worked for a small software development company in a small town for a small salary for over 10 years now. We are very chill. We are not venture funded. I think most participants in HN could also do this if they can tolerate making much less money than you would make in the city (with much lower cost of living), and if the other things that come with city life are not that important to you.
There are some opportunities that I think are only available in the FANGs. If your passion is in that domain, then you may have to stick it out. This is the only reason that I can see for doing the corporate grind. I don't have an addiction to money. There is no stuff that I could buy with more money that would be worth the corporate grind.
Software development skills are important enough that you will be in demand no matter where you go. Especially if you're feeling like the author of this article (over it), consider what's really important to you. You may have more options than you think.
And all the talk about "diversity" and "diversity of opinions" being cherished is nonsense, they want a hivemind singularly focused on executing leadership's various whims.
I think that really is super dependent on your workplace, and probably your field.
In higher education, I can tell you, they do not value diversity of opinion, but they get it in spades. Every decision is questioned, argued, analyzed, and beat to death. Leadership hates it, but I love it. It's one of the closest environments to that 'value diversity of opinion' statement that I've ever been a part of.
Diversity of opinion is allowed, but not diversity of worldview. If a dissenting worldview is expressed it is quickly removed from the discussion and the dissenter is eliminated.
That may be part of it, but I think the main reason is that higher ed is process-oriented to a fault.
You need five people to sign off on what you're doing, and John is out until next Tuesday, so he can't sign it. When he gets back, he notices that Christine missed something on the form, so he waits five days and kicks it back. Repeat this until you give up.
There are some opportunities that I think are only available in the FANGs. If your passion is in that domain, then you may have to stick it out. This is the only reason that I can see for doing the corporate grind. I don't have an addiction to money. There is no stuff that I could buy with more money that would be worth the corporate grind.
Software development skills are important enough that you will be in demand no matter where you go. Especially if you're feeling like the author of this article (over it), consider what's really important to you. You may have more options than you think.