Was my manager basically telling me to be thankful for my job?

[u/Single_Estimate_3190]

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I’m trying to figure out whether I’m overreacting to this situation or whether the way my manager communicated this was inappropriate.

For some context, I have 3+ years of professional experience, but I was recently asked to work on a completely different technology stack that I hadn't worked with professionally before.

I was upfront with my architect that I hadn't worked with this technology before and that there would probably be a learning curve.

His response was essentially that even he didn't know everything about it, but he was still trying to work on the project, so I should figure it out as well.

Fair enough. I understand that with 3+ YOE, I'm expected to learn new technologies and adapt based on business requirements.

Initially, I used AI quite heavily to get something working and raise a PR. My architect wasn't happy with that approach and told me that what I was doing was essentially “buzzcoding.” He said that if I wanted to work like a proper developer, I needed to change my approach to using AI and do agentic coding,otherwise I could contribute to testing instead.

The following day, I had my 1:1 with my manager.

He told me that this is how things are going to be and that I need to pivot based on business demands.

I understand that part. I'm not expecting to only work with technologies I'm already comfortable with.

But then he said something along the lines of:

“There are people making half your salary who are making significant contributions to development.”

That really rubbed me the wrong way.

Maybe I'm interpreting it incorrectly, but it felt like an indirect “you should be thankful you have this job” message.

[u/Solnx]

There are people making half your salary who are making significant contributions to development.

I read this as "You are replaceable with someone cheaper."

[u/EnragedDegeneration → u/Solnx]

That's exactly how I'd read it too. The salary comparison just feels like a subtle threat, like he's prepping the ground for something. Usually when a manager starts talking about cheaper people doing the same work, the next conversation is about expectations or headcount. I'd start quietly updating my resume and being careful about anything that could be used against me later.

[u/box_of_hornets → u/Solnx]

I have seen this scenario before and the manager was simply trying to set appropriate expectations with the employee. @op if you think the manager is being unreasonable then you need to go somewhere else where you and your employers expectations align.

If you think there's been a miscommunication of some kind, between you or this other dev or your manager or any combination, then you work to clear that up then keep delivering well.

If you think their feedback is not unreasonable then you shift your approach and deliver in a way that matches their expectations.

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/box_of_hornets]

Their expectations matches only the orgs criteria basically everything we use is inhouse wrapper created of cloud,AI or etc. But while interviewing I get blank how do I explain the interviewer I used this tool to achieve Y thing even though if I somehow convince them they just won't buy it.

[u/fried_green_baloney → u/Solnx]

Another possibility is the manager is scared for his job and is projecting.

Why not both?

[u/Lower_Sun_7354]

At first, I felt bad for OP. Then read their responses in the comments and sided with the manager.

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/Lower_Sun_7354]

Well 6months ago the same architect and manager praised me for ai slop code it was different stack back then

[u/ArticleHaunting3983]

No. They are basically saying they’re paying you for more senior skills, but you’re showing them junior skills. I’d say this is the start of being on a performance plan in future. They have higher expectations for you, and people being paid less than you are performing better than you, when you’re expected to perform better than them.

Everyone uses AI at work, but the way you use it shouldn’t be causing an issue for others. I’m guessing you tried to push through some shitty code that wasn’t viable for a number of reasons.

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/ArticleHaunting3983]

I agree I've pushed some AI slop,but never got constructive feedback instead straight ass criticism

[u/blindman99 → u/Single_Estimate_3190]

So you knew it was slop and still pushed it through? Yet you wonder why people are upset? Why did you hit the PR step if you had no confidence in your own code. 

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/blindman99]

Unlike sales we have target to push pr's

[u/blindman99 → u/Single_Estimate_3190]

I am not saying it's fair but you picked the worst option. Your choice means you did not hit your PR target and you wasted your seniors time. 

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/blindman99]

Yeah this one's on me

[u/ArticleHaunting3983 → u/Single_Estimate_3190]

No one owes you constructive feedback. Sometimes your work is shit and you need to be told, it’s not even your work is it? It’s vibe coded. If you’re going to vibe code you need to at least get better at prompt engineering, even your responses here read like ai

[u/swegamer137]

If that rubbed you the wrong way, you should get acquainted with your nearest soup kitchen then because you'll be spending a lot more time there.

[u/Big_Arrival_626]

Depends on ur salary. If ur making big bucks (150k+) then he's right. Otherwise he's a douche. Average tenure for swes is 2-3 years, even in a bad job market, managers should not tempt their devs 😂😂

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/Big_Arrival_626]

My manager is a dev turned into people manager barely making 110k😕

[u/Big_Arrival_626 → u/Single_Estimate_3190]

110 for 3 YOE is pretty good

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/Big_Arrival_626]

I have a colleague who is making 135k at 5yoe doesn't even know how to create venv in vscode and install libs but is great at people skills and knows ways to fool people

[u/bern_777 → u/Single_Estimate_3190]

A staff engineer in my last company was debugging using print in python...

Edit: I'm getting downvoted so more info I was at this company for 3 years and he was there longer let's say 4 years. All our services are in python and he has written a lot of python code. Going over some some code for a pr he asked how I debug stuff in python and that he's been using print statements. I told him about pdb breakpoint() and didn't criticize at all. This wouldn't have been bad if he just joined or was new to python, but at around 4 years and staff engineer...

[u/Big_Arrival_626 → u/bern_777]

Please tell me this is some shitty noname company. I can't believe that I'm getting rejected by companies that hire people like this

[u/bern_777 → u/Big_Arrival_626]

I wouldn't say it was shitty, I learned a lot and the company is making millions every year. Even got bought by private equity and ended up buying other tech companies.

[u/Single_Estimate_3190 → u/bern_777]

Still better than saying why do we need unit test we can directly verify from db

[u/UpAtTheTop]

It is something that didn't need to have been said, IMO.

However, that's the reality of the situation. You don't say where you are. But developer jobs in my company are migrating to cheaper locations, whether that's India or South America.

AI is an incredible tool. But it's part of the picture as a developer. Use it as a tool, but at the end of the day, you should be creating a mental model of how the software works.

The real challenge of AI created code is telling the difference between workable and non-workable. The AI will create something that looks right but might be garbage.

The value that you have as a human developer is knowing the difference.

[u/Minimum-Reward3264]

He saying this to you is a sign of a terrible manager. New stack is not easy. And layoff sign , why is he worrying about your salary.

[u/PartyParrotGames]

The real irony is that all those people also make less than the manager and contribute far more than he does as well.