

How the Other Half Works: An Adventure in the Low Status of Software Engineers - csomar
http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/how-the-other-half-works-an-adventure-in-the-low-status-of-software-engineers/?

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markpundmann
I've seen a bunch of these kinds of posts about how software engineers don't
get paid enough and it seems to me that a lot of people have this
misconception about software engineers. We are part of the labor market just
like everyone else. While their is a lot of skill and creativity involved in
software development, your work can likely be replicated by someone else, and
if that someone else can do your job for a cheaper price, companies are going
to hire the cheaper person.

I've got a 6 figure offer coming out of college and not one of my
business/engineering friends are making anything close to that. Other majors
will make even less. My brother works for a top consulting firm doing the
"evil business" and charges clients 300+ an hour, and yet he will only make
around ~80,000 a year. It will be years before he will be able to climb their
hierarchy and make the big bucks.

So quit your bitching and either invest in yourself so that you have skills
that are in high demand and low supply, or start a company so that you can
earn profits which technically have no limits.

~~~
geebee
I'd normally agree with much of what you said, with one twist that changes the
nature of the discussion completely: you're describing an industry where
employers routinely claim that there is a critical shortage of software
developers (at the price they want to pay, though this is almost left
unspoken).

So I could rephrase your last sentence as "so quit your whining and either
invest in your workforce so that they have the skills that you need, or raise
the pay you're offering until you get your workers at a rate that technically
has no limits."

If we're part of the labor market "like everyone else", then why does our
particular segment of the industry spend so much money and time lobbying for
special visas and other types of consideration from the government? Like I've
said many times here on HN, I support a greater emphasis on skilled
immigration. But when a software developer in SF earns only a bit more than a
dental hygienist and a bit less than a registered nurse, I don't think that
the software developer "shortage" is any more acute than the shortage of
skilled workers in every other segment of the economy.

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Eiriksmal
See this HN article[0] and, specifically, the interesting chain of comments
starting with Mr. Ptacek's ruminations on the article[1] that ends up linking
to Mr. O'Church's writing.

[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8232746](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8232746)
[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8232992](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8232992)

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bottled_poe
"Oh, you're a software engineer. That means you can you fix my computer,
right?" -> Frowning ensues

