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Does Google seriously hire mechanical engineers without a degree and proper certification?

Hopefully not. The Glassdoor article is a typical SEO spam write-up. Their data is generally so bad it's annoying.
Not all mechanical engineering work requires a Professional Engineer
Then it isnt engineering work. Engineers are professionals, acredited by societies and licensed by governments. It is akin to the differance between simple "medical work" done by any number of people with the skills, and medical doctoring.
In the US, there’s a difference between a professional Engineer and a Professional Engineer. Professional Engineer requires certification (I think they even give you a ring or something), but you can still work professionally as an Engineer without the certification.

The difference, roughly, if I remember correctly, is that Professional Engineers are the only ones who can “sign off” on work and essentially assume liability. Therefore, you can be an uncertified Engineer as long as you’re working under someone certified or if your work doesn’t require sign-off from someone certified.

Are there any PE’s here that can tell me if that’s correct?

Reminds me of this lawsuit, where an engineer was sued by Oregon for criticizing traffic infrastructure (a red light camera) and calling himself an engineer:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/0...

So if you are doing the same work, maybe even better than a Professional Engineer, they are doing engineering work, and you are just... twiddling your thumbs?
That might be "engineering work" but it isn't the type of work that legally requires a P.Eng (or P.Eng supervision). I can have my assistant to draft a memo, even interview a client, that doesn't make him a lawyer. And he certainly isn't allowed to hold himself out as such to the public.
Someone should go back in time to inform DaVinci to make sure he refrains from all of that not-engineering work.

It’s easy for people to forget that the engineering came first. The students came after. You can argue the point all day, but it will always come down to one person figuring shit out by themselves.

This isn't true at all. Most engineers never get a PE. It's not worth it unless you are working on public works projects or civil engineering things. It's very reductive to say that work isn't engineering unless you have a PE.
That is not the definition of an engineer. See Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer
It is the definition of a professional. Engineering is a recognized profession, alongside doctors and lawyers. It fought to be there. Work needing an engineer cannot be done by anyone who isnt. Companies should not muddle the distinctions between those legally able to do such work and those who may not.

From wikipedia:

"In many countries, engineering tasks such as the design of bridges, electric power plants, industrial equipment, machine design and chemical plants, must be approved by a licensed professional engineer. Most commonly titled professional engineer"

"In the United States, engineering is a regulated profession whose practice and practitioners are licensed and governed by law. Licensure is generally attainable through combination of education, pre-examination (Fundamentals of Engineering exam), examination (professional engineering exam),[19] and engineering experience (typically in the area of 5+ years). Each state tests and licenses professional engineers."

You're arguing this on a forum loaded with software developers, often without college degrees, more often without an "engineering" degree, all of whom are in jobs with "engineer" in the title.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying you might be fighting collective delusion in the wrong place.

The word engineer is a protected title in the USA, sure, but it's only relevant when dealing with the gov't. I and many others have the word engineer in their official job title, but both me and the company are fully aware I never took the PE exam.

On the other hand, if you claim you are an engineer to the usa gov't then yeah, that gets you in hot water. I also tend to avoid calling myself a software engineer specifically to avoid potential issues like that, but I do lost the full job title given to me by previous employers when asked and on my resume.

Engineering as a profession has some regulation and licensure in the US, but the word "engineer" is not protected. Someone can call themselves and engineer without legal trouble. Not so much if call yourself a doctor.
Did you even check the link? The Wikipedia article has a definition of a professional engineer right in there, and what you said did not agree with it at all.
The profession is regulated, but not all practitioners are licensed professional engineers. A licensed engineer needs to oversee, verify, and sign off on the work. It does not need to actually do the work. I worked for four years as an electrical engineer, but never even took the FE (then the EIT) or had any intention of gaining licensure.
And even that oversight is only required in some circumstances, mainly when the project involves potential risks to public safety. Not every project needs to involve a PE.
Yeah and Publix is apparently hiring pharmacists without a degree apparently.

Total BS, to be a pharmacist you need to have a Doctor of Pharmacy (which is an advanced degree!) and be licensed by the appropriate government entity. Those 6-8 years of schooling aren't exactly optional.

You are correct about the title. But the need for a pharmacy degree in a pill dispensary seems dubious. They literally take the RX and count the pills out.

Obviously, you can ask the pharmacist questions and get additional info, but that's not required for someone to hand me my vitamin D supplements.

Except they specifically listed "pharmacist," not "pharmacy technician" or "pharmacy assistant."
I agree that for some engineering fields an official certification of some sort should be required. There are other roads to obtaining the required knowledge for that certification though, and attending university should absolutely not be the only way to obtain certification. At the very least standardized tests.

It would save highly motivated self learners or people learning in an apprenticeship type situation such as an open source contributer years of their life, lots of money, and allow them to more quickly contribute to society.

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