7 ms·

Ieee FML this has been a depressing read. Is anyone else realizing they are severely underpaid? Passes the virtual whiskey

ocdtrekkie 11y ago
Question is, do you work in the same geographic area? Pay ranges are extremely regionally-based, because cost of living varies wildly.
- zaroth 11y ago
  I'd say it's not so-much the cost of living which really drives the pay ranges, it's more the level of local competition for talent. The actual cost of living difference between, e.g. metro-west Boston and Bay Area probably can explain less than half of the salary difference.
- ionised 11y ago
  When US devs talk about their wage it always seems absurdly high to me as someone from the north-west of the UK, but I know you have to factor in health insurance and living costs (particularly if you live in the Valley or Bay areas). Even so, after factoring in living costs and all the other differences, they're probably still making two or three times what I am, with less experience.
SwellJoe 11y ago
I'm reading it thinking, "Hmm, do I really hate working for other people that much?" I've run my own companies since I was in my early 20s, and have never taken on more than contract work for others. But, I've very rarely been able to pay myself as much as even modest developer or IT salaries at big companies in major cities. But, that may mean I just need to stop trying to make a living out of Open Source software. ~20 years of it might be a sign it's time to try some other approach.
- justinclift 11y ago
  Maybe pick Open Source Software which people pay good money for skills in? :)
  - SwellJoe 11y ago
    There's always that one person... I've done that, and my most personally profitable years were doing that, billing $125/hour the last year I did it (this was eleven years ago), and working slightly more often than I wanted to be. There was a lot of travel, as my particular specialty was something that was needed by companies with very large websites, but not by many others, which I suspect is gonna be true of most of the "which people pay good money for skills in" projects. Being a contractor has most of the same disadvantages of having a real job; maybe pays a little better, and maybe you work a little less because of it. But, it has some additional negatives that I found made me unhappy. I haven't gone back to contracting not because it isn't profitable, but because it isn't what I want to do. I want to build things, not merely install and configure software (even being really good at installing and configuring complicated software leaves something to be desired in the "job satisfaction" category). Anyway, I've been making my living on Open Source software for approaching 20 years, through two different companies, and a half dozen pivots and business models. I'm not making statements out of lack of knowledge of the topic.
    - justinclift 11y ago
      No worries at all. Wasn't sure where you were coming from. :)
deleted 11y ago
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ryanobjc 11y ago
Am I correct in thinking you feel underpaid compared to Amazonians? Because, man, I won't even tell you what people in the real industry get paid :-)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
Bahamut 11y ago
I'm reading this and thinking Amazon employees are really underpaid - making more than some of these people with less experience in base salary (not even including options) at startups.
ionised 11y ago
Yup. I'm in the UK though where devs are paid shit by comparison, and in the North West where it's definitely on the lower-end of the scale.

ocdtrekkie 11y ago

Question is, do you work in the same geographic area? Pay ranges are extremely regionally-based, because cost of living varies wildly.

zaroth 11y ago
I'd say it's not so-much the cost of living which really drives the pay ranges, it's more the level of local competition for talent. The actual cost of living difference between, e.g. metro-west Boston and Bay Area probably can explain less than half of the salary difference.
ionised 11y ago
When US devs talk about their wage it always seems absurdly high to me as someone from the north-west of the UK, but I know you have to factor in health insurance and living costs (particularly if you live in the Valley or Bay areas). Even so, after factoring in living costs and all the other differences, they're probably still making two or three times what I am, with less experience.

SwellJoe 11y ago

I'm reading it thinking, "Hmm, do I really hate working for other people that much?" I've run my own companies since I was in my early 20s, and have never taken on more than contract work for others. But, I've very rarely been able to pay myself as much as even modest developer or IT salaries at big companies in major cities. But, that may mean I just need to stop trying to make a living out of Open Source software. ~20 years of it might be a sign it's time to try some other approach.

justinclift 11y ago
Maybe pick Open Source Software which people pay good money for skills in? :)
- SwellJoe 11y ago
  There's always that one person... I've done that, and my most personally profitable years were doing that, billing $125/hour the last year I did it (this was eleven years ago), and working slightly more often than I wanted to be. There was a lot of travel, as my particular specialty was something that was needed by companies with very large websites, but not by many others, which I suspect is gonna be true of most of the "which people pay good money for skills in" projects. Being a contractor has most of the same disadvantages of having a real job; maybe pays a little better, and maybe you work a little less because of it. But, it has some additional negatives that I found made me unhappy. I haven't gone back to contracting not because it isn't profitable, but because it isn't what I want to do. I want to build things, not merely install and configure software (even being really good at installing and configuring complicated software leaves something to be desired in the "job satisfaction" category). Anyway, I've been making my living on Open Source software for approaching 20 years, through two different companies, and a half dozen pivots and business models. I'm not making statements out of lack of knowledge of the topic.
  - justinclift 11y ago
    No worries at all. Wasn't sure where you were coming from. :)

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

ryanobjc 11y ago

Am I correct in thinking you feel underpaid compared to Amazonians? Because, man, I won't even tell you what people in the real industry get paid :-)

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

Bahamut 11y ago

I'm reading this and thinking Amazon employees are really underpaid - making more than some of these people with less experience in base salary (not even including options) at startups.

ionised 11y ago

Yup. I'm in the UK though where devs are paid shit by comparison, and in the North West where it's definitely on the lower-end of the scale.