5 ms·

> We need good lifeguards, sure, but we don't need to pay them $300-400k a year... I wonder, why does that apply to lifeguards but not to a FAANG employee?

Snoozus 6y ago
taxpayers money vs. sharehder money mostly
- thisisnico 6y ago
  Also FAANG employee is paid according to value created, they'd have to create more value then they are paid otherwise they wouldn't be employed. Lifeguarding value is determined differently and is independent of pay.
- mrweasel 6y ago
  Also lifeguards are viewed as an expense, who deliver no direct income to the city/county. A developer has his/her work translated into direct value to the company.
  - throwawayboise 6y ago
    > A developer has his/her work translated into direct value to the company. Only in companies whose product is software. In other companies, IT and in-house/backoffice software systems are a cost center, just like the accounting department.
jsharp 6y ago
Not trying to be a jerk, but basic supply and demand. There are literally millions of Americans who are able to perform the duties of a lifeguard. Millions more that could "manage" lifeguards. Having your job be spending most of your day on a beautiful beach in southern California? That's a dream to many people! I hearing on NPR (maybe This American Life?) about a lawyer who works full-time at his own firm during most of the year, but during the summer months goes on sabbatical to work as a lifeguard in the NY area. He's been doing this since he was a kid. Working as a lifeguard is his vacation! You can't say the same about a Google or Facebook engineer. There's only so many people that could do the job, and very few would consider it their "dream" to code all day for a giant corporation. No one would consider it a vacation! FWIW we should pay lifeguards a living wage! But $400k for an low-skill job that doesn't even require a high school education? Wow.
- flr03 6y ago
  I don't think Lifeguard is a low-skill job, you need to be an extremely skilled swimmer. This is only achievable by learning and training from a very young age and being a minimum gifted for it.
  - dominotw 6y ago
    > This is only achievable by learning and training from a very young age and being a minimum gifted for it. I passed lifeguard certification in my twenties. I am not a 'gifted' swimmer and the first time I got into water was when I was ~14 yrs.
    - sosborn 6y ago
      Getting hired to guard a pool is a completely different experience than getting hired for a beach.
    - sjg007 6y ago
      Open ocean water certified?
    - 00117 6y ago
      Exactly. Swimming is not so hard and working this profession is not the same as operating at a competitive level.
- TomVDB 6y ago
  Maybe the whole system of basing pay on supply and demand needs some serious adjustments based on the societal impact of a job? It’s not that I’m unhappy with my cushy tech job and the life style that comes with it, but making literally 5x or 10x more than a nurse or a janitor and pretty much anyone who does essential and often backbreaking work is fundamentally unjust and cruel.
  - cosmodisk 6y ago
    Never think you are overpaid- you are not, definitely not if you are a developer, it's just that many others are underpaid, that's the problem.
renewiltord 6y ago
Presumably because "we" aren't paying the FAANG employee.

Snoozus 6y ago

taxpayers money vs. sharehder money mostly

thisisnico 6y ago
Also FAANG employee is paid according to value created, they'd have to create more value then they are paid otherwise they wouldn't be employed. Lifeguarding value is determined differently and is independent of pay.
mrweasel 6y ago
Also lifeguards are viewed as an expense, who deliver no direct income to the city/county. A developer has his/her work translated into direct value to the company.
- throwawayboise 6y ago
  > A developer has his/her work translated into direct value to the company. Only in companies whose product is software. In other companies, IT and in-house/backoffice software systems are a cost center, just like the accounting department.

jsharp 6y ago

Not trying to be a jerk, but basic supply and demand. There are literally millions of Americans who are able to perform the duties of a lifeguard. Millions more that could "manage" lifeguards. Having your job be spending most of your day on a beautiful beach in southern California? That's a dream to many people! I hearing on NPR (maybe This American Life?) about a lawyer who works full-time at his own firm during most of the year, but during the summer months goes on sabbatical to work as a lifeguard in the NY area. He's been doing this since he was a kid. Working as a lifeguard is his vacation! You can't say the same about a Google or Facebook engineer. There's only so many people that could do the job, and very few would consider it their "dream" to code all day for a giant corporation. No one would consider it a vacation! FWIW we should pay lifeguards a living wage! But $400k for an low-skill job that doesn't even require a high school education? Wow.

flr03 6y ago
I don't think Lifeguard is a low-skill job, you need to be an extremely skilled swimmer. This is only achievable by learning and training from a very young age and being a minimum gifted for it.
- dominotw 6y ago
  > This is only achievable by learning and training from a very young age and being a minimum gifted for it. I passed lifeguard certification in my twenties. I am not a 'gifted' swimmer and the first time I got into water was when I was ~14 yrs.
  - sosborn 6y ago
    Getting hired to guard a pool is a completely different experience than getting hired for a beach.
  - sjg007 6y ago
    Open ocean water certified?
  - 00117 6y ago
    Exactly. Swimming is not so hard and working this profession is not the same as operating at a competitive level.
TomVDB 6y ago
Maybe the whole system of basing pay on supply and demand needs some serious adjustments based on the societal impact of a job? It’s not that I’m unhappy with my cushy tech job and the life style that comes with it, but making literally 5x or 10x more than a nurse or a janitor and pretty much anyone who does essential and often backbreaking work is fundamentally unjust and cruel.
- cosmodisk 6y ago
  Never think you are overpaid- you are not, definitely not if you are a developer, it's just that many others are underpaid, that's the problem.

renewiltord 6y ago

Presumably because "we" aren't paying the FAANG employee.