[gamblor956]

It's amusing that SWE grads are turning down a real company that provides actual value to millions of customers to work at startups that "dream of changing the world" with yet another social media app. Or AI app. Or whatever the latest silly tech fad happens to be.

No, groceries aren't sexy. But everyone needs to eat, and Kroger will be around long after all of the stupid startups these SWE grads choose to work for have died.

[jstarfish]

Kroger was at one time remarkably progressive.

Back in 1992(!) they rolled out a smart-cart system that I can't find any references to because its new (2021) release dominates the SEO.

It was an LCD tablet mounted to the cart that would let you look items up, see a map of the store, and (I think?) play trivia games. I think they showed ads too when idle IIRC.

If you knew to look for them, there were stalactite-looking antennas hanging from the ceiling in a grid pattern all over the store to do triangulation.

It was pretty nifty until they stopped maintaining it.

[JohnFen]

Many SWE grads (and even many established devs) seem to have a rather large blind spot. They tend to think that working for an overt software company (and especially a SV-style company) is the only real option.

The reality is that lots of different industries employ software engineers, and many/most of those industries are doing really cutting-edge and interesting things, often much more interesting than your standard SV-style software company.

[lotsofpulp]

SWE grads are turning down low pay and low potential, it's that simple.

[gamblor956]

Kroger is hiring right now, while most tech companies are laying people off.

And quite frankly, what Kroger is offering would have been considered a decent, even good, starting salary before the COVID tech hiring froth warped tech employees' salary expectations.