Software engineers use our skills to profit routinely. We do this mostly by switching from one job to another where we will get paid more. The reason we do thi

Software engineers use our skills to profit routinely. We do this mostly by switching from one job to another where we will get paid more. The reason we do this rather than using our "leverage" to get more where we are, is that managers tend to get angry about what they consider extortion. Many would rather fire the extorter and hire someone more manageable (even if less skillful) in their place. There's also the budget problem. Speaking now as a manager, I recently recommended that one of our devops engineers be showered with money to get him to stay. I was laughed at. NO ONE below the rank of Vice President gets showered with money. There just isn't money in the budget for that. As I feared, the devops engineer in question recently gave notice. I'm thinking about tuning up my resume and following him.