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You are right that compensation is uneven in every industry. You are also right I am generalizing a bit too much. My main point, though, is more that in tech/f
by pixelmonkey 9y ago
You are right that compensation is uneven in every industry. You are also right I am generalizing a bit too much.
My main point, though, is more that in tech/finance it is very possible for compensation to be (largely) commensurate with leveraged value-add. Whereas in professions like teaching and firefighting, it is simply impossible.
- user5994461 9y agoYou can teach and firefight anywhere on the planet. You can only work for the GAFA in a couple of cities, that happen to be the most expensive in the world.
- sidlls 9y agoThe parent's point, I think, is that teachers and firefighters (in this country) are rarely (effectively never) compensated according to the value they provide. I happen to agree with that point.
- user5994461 9y agoEven in the US. I doubt that's a general truth. The 4 million American developers outside of the GAFA and HN circle have nothing outstanding. By the way, in the country I come from, they are both compensated more or equally than developers.
- sidlls 9y agoGAFA?
- wastedhours 9y agoYeah, compensation matches the number of people you reach in the moment, rather than the impact of that reach. Those who reach millions of people (rockstars, football players, the person who designed the curve on a button at a hot tech company, vacuous reality TV stars etc...) will earn relative to the audience size at the moment of earning rather than the value-add-per-person. Teachers and firefighters have immense value on a very small number of (often unappreciative) people directly. The outcomes from that value might be immeasurable, but at the point of delivery, society doesn't value it highly enough for heft compensation at present.