> Sure, it takes work to be a software engineer, but I don’t think it takes all that much. You can be a pretty decent one with a few years of work. So we agree

> Sure, it takes work to be a software engineer, but I don’t think it takes all that much. You can be a pretty decent one with a few years of work. So we agree that: 1. Not everyone has the ability and motivation to start training as a SWE. 2. For the minority of individuals who do, it will take several years of effortful training and work to become just "pretty decent". Couple that with: 1. Huge, rising demand. 2. SWEs being at the core of the profit centers of many (most?) current businesses. And that alone is more than enough to explain high pay. If every new business needed 10-30% of its workforce to be, say, lawyers, their salaries would skyrocket as well. Except I don't think they'd feel so guilty and unworthy about it.