4 ms·

> why not hire an amazing $150k - $180k engineer? If you're making that kind of money, you have a lot better options than working on some ancient COBOL system

by xienze 7y ago

> why not hire an amazing $150k - $180k engineer? If you're making that kind of money, you have a lot better options than working on some ancient COBOL system that processes unemployment claims.

perl4ever 7y ago
Conversely, if you would choose COBOL in response to being offered $150K, you might well be a worse hire than someone who would do it for $60K.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
abeyer 7y ago
> If you're making that kind of money, you have a lot better options than working on some ancient COBOL system that processes unemployment claims. There's more to life than money and tech. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be happy to work on a boring tech stack in helping to address possibly the largest public crisis many of us will see in our lifetimes vs. working with the new fad of the week in pursuit of selling ads marginally more efficiently.
- lotsofpulp 7y ago
  Then the strategy of undervaluing the work of creating and maintaining robust systems will be validated. Why spend the money and invest now for the future, when you can lean on people to donate their efforts in times of crisis?
  - abeyer 7y ago
    > Why spend the money and invest now for the future, when you can lean on people to donate their efforts in times of crisis? First, no one said anything about donating effort...the scenario was getting paid a decent, if not quite FAANG, salary to work on an older tech stack. And sure, you _could_ take that approach. We tried it with pandemic preparation, let's see how that works out.
    - cultus 7y ago
      It's really not sustainable or realistic to rely on altruism. Taking a huge pay cut to work on awful systems nobody wants to deal with exceeds how much nearly anyone is willing to help. Just giving a frigging UBI for at least the duration of this crisis would solve all of these problems and work much better.
smabie 7y ago
150-180k total comp isn't that high of a salary for an engineer. It's above average I'd imagine, but probably not even in the top 20th percentile. As such, for 150-180k you should be able get a pretty decent (yet unexceptional) coder.
- prirun 7y ago
  Especially since NJ has the highest property taxes of any state in the US. $150-180K is a very good salary for where I live (Indiana), but not IMO for NJ: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/property-tax-which-homeowners-around-the-u-s-pay-the-highest/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/property-tax-which-homeowners-a...

by xienze 7y ago

> why not hire an amazing $150k - $180k engineer? If you're making that kind of money, you have a lot better options than working on some ancient COBOL system that processes unemployment claims.

perl4ever 7y ago

Conversely, if you would choose COBOL in response to being offered $150K, you might well be a worse hire than someone who would do it for $60K.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

abeyer 7y ago

> If you're making that kind of money, you have a lot better options than working on some ancient COBOL system that processes unemployment claims. There's more to life than money and tech. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be happy to work on a boring tech stack in helping to address possibly the largest public crisis many of us will see in our lifetimes vs. working with the new fad of the week in pursuit of selling ads marginally more efficiently.

lotsofpulp 7y ago
Then the strategy of undervaluing the work of creating and maintaining robust systems will be validated. Why spend the money and invest now for the future, when you can lean on people to donate their efforts in times of crisis?
- abeyer 7y ago
  > Why spend the money and invest now for the future, when you can lean on people to donate their efforts in times of crisis? First, no one said anything about donating effort...the scenario was getting paid a decent, if not quite FAANG, salary to work on an older tech stack. And sure, you _could_ take that approach. We tried it with pandemic preparation, let's see how that works out.
  - cultus 7y ago
    It's really not sustainable or realistic to rely on altruism. Taking a huge pay cut to work on awful systems nobody wants to deal with exceeds how much nearly anyone is willing to help. Just giving a frigging UBI for at least the duration of this crisis would solve all of these problems and work much better.

smabie 7y ago

150-180k total comp isn't that high of a salary for an engineer. It's above average I'd imagine, but probably not even in the top 20th percentile. As such, for 150-180k you should be able get a pretty decent (yet unexceptional) coder.

prirun 7y ago
Especially since NJ has the highest property taxes of any state in the US. $150-180K is a very good salary for where I live (Indiana), but not IMO for NJ: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/property-tax-which-homeowners-around-the-u-s-pay-the-highest/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/property-tax-which-homeowners-a...