It sounds like you've just never bothered to read what socialism is.
Socialism doesn't advocate for no work, everybody gets free stuff, and we all eat berries while sitting under rainbows.
Here's a simple definition of what socialism is:
Socialism is an economic system in which industries are owned by workers rather than by private businesses. It is different from capitalism, where private actors, like business owners and shareholders, own the means of production. The state can also act as a capitalist by owning the means of production and by directing the economy. Socialists believe that capitalists owning the means of production is a form of exploitation because it lets them own a majority of the labor that workers produce, even though the owners haven't done any work. Socialists propose that workers themselves get to own and manage their labor. Socialism is similar to communism, though both have their own different sets of socioeconomic standards held by the people and government.
Socialists believe that sharing ownership of the means of production equally among society would increase people's quality of life. Socialists want to give people free access to basic life necessities like food, housing, and healthcare. Some socialists also believe employment should be guaranteed as a human right. Socialists want to prevent problems that they believe come from unchecked capitalism, like poor treatment of workers and inequality. There are varying views among socialists as to how exactly the issues should be prevented. There are varying views among socialists as to how different issues should be approached. Most socialists would argue that capitalism, in its purest form, can inflict great harm.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
The internet is full of information, I'm sure an engineer is capable of figuring out how to locate and read it.
As a starting point, I like this book for its simple explanations of how capitalism works: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_and_After. You can read it for free here. It then goes on to explain anarchism, which is a form of socialism. Not all socialists are anarchists though.