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This assumes that salary is all that motivates people. In fact people like to work on challenging and prestigious tasks, and not only for money. Salary aside, g

This assumes that salary is all that motivates people. In fact people like to work on challenging and prestigious tasks, and not only for money. Salary aside, given the choice, would you rather be an engineer or a janitor?

dunpeal 8y ago
> This assumes that salary is all that motivates people. First of all, much of my argument is about the effects of one company paying more for the same work than its competitors. The company in my example pays its engineers better. So there's no assumption that these engineers would rather become janitors if it paid the same. There's a much more reasonable assumption that given equivalent work, they'd rather be paid more for it. As for people flocking to professions with the best pay prospects: that is not only logical, but has been proven many times over, including in our specific profession. I can link you some curves if you haven't seen them already. Of course, there will always be exceptions. But even then, it's not a reliable way to recruit thousands of hard-working employees. If engineering paid exactly the same as being a janitor, some of the most brilliant candidates will take a part-time job as a night guards, and spend all their time reading calculus books or playing chess. P.S. even brilliant people won't willingly go into $200k in debt to attend an elite school for engineering just to be saddled with that debt for the rest of their lives. They'll become night guards and spend their time reading physics textbook for fun. P.P.S. anecdotal evidence: some of the most brilliant people I know studied physics or pure math in top schools, then switched to tech because it pays.
- smrtinsert 8y ago
  Being a corporate lawyer pays more. Watch now through amazing exodus of developers suddenly going into law...
xg15 8y ago
Ah yes, that old argument. Even Walt Disney was apparently shocked to hear that people were actually working for him to make a living and not just out of reverence for his projects.
- xg15 8y ago
  (update) I misunderstood that comment. My apologies.
leetcrew 8y ago
i like coding a lot more than i like sweeping floors, and i like sweeping a lot more than most people do. this doesn't imply that i would prefer to code "useful things" to sweeping floors. when i code in my free time i usually make weird 3D simulations to watch for my own pleasure. afaik, no one is lining up to pay me well for the things i actually want to do.

dunpeal 8y ago

> This assumes that salary is all that motivates people. First of all, much of my argument is about the effects of one company paying more for the same work than its competitors. The company in my example pays its engineers better. So there's no assumption that these engineers would rather become janitors if it paid the same. There's a much more reasonable assumption that given equivalent work, they'd rather be paid more for it. As for people flocking to professions with the best pay prospects: that is not only logical, but has been proven many times over, including in our specific profession. I can link you some curves if you haven't seen them already. Of course, there will always be exceptions. But even then, it's not a reliable way to recruit thousands of hard-working employees. If engineering paid exactly the same as being a janitor, some of the most brilliant candidates will take a part-time job as a night guards, and spend all their time reading calculus books or playing chess. P.S. even brilliant people won't willingly go into $200k in debt to attend an elite school for engineering just to be saddled with that debt for the rest of their lives. They'll become night guards and spend their time reading physics textbook for fun. P.P.S. anecdotal evidence: some of the most brilliant people I know studied physics or pure math in top schools, then switched to tech because it pays.

smrtinsert 8y ago
Being a corporate lawyer pays more. Watch now through amazing exodus of developers suddenly going into law...

xg15 8y ago

Ah yes, that old argument. Even Walt Disney was apparently shocked to hear that people were actually working for him to make a living and not just out of reverence for his projects.

xg15 8y ago
(update) I misunderstood that comment. My apologies.

leetcrew 8y ago

i like coding a lot more than i like sweeping floors, and i like sweeping a lot more than most people do. this doesn't imply that i would prefer to code "useful things" to sweeping floors. when i code in my free time i usually make weird 3D simulations to watch for my own pleasure. afaik, no one is lining up to pay me well for the things i actually want to do.