> Every previous job I've had has a similar pattern. The engineer is not supposed to engage directly with the customer.

Chiming in to say I’ve experienced the same.

A coworker who became a good friend ended up on a PIP and subsequently fired for “not performing” soon after he helped build a non technical team a small tool that really helped them do their job quicker. He wasn’t doing exactly as he was told and I guess that’s considered not performing.

Coincidentally the person who pushed for him to be fired was an ex-Google middle manager.

I’ve also seen so commonly this weird stigma around engineers as if we’re considered a bit unintelligent when it comes to what users want.

Maybe there is something to higher ups having some more knowledge of the business processes and the bigger picture, but I’m not convinced that it isn’t also largely because of insecurity and power issues.

If you do something successful that your manager didn’t think of and your manager is insecure about their own abilities, good chance they’ll feel threatened.