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Similarly, there are plenty of companies here in the Midwest who think it's ok to pay devs 50k/yr, and I want to say in the strongest possible terms fuck that.

Similarly, there are plenty of companies here in the Midwest who think it's ok to pay devs 50k/yr, and I want to say in the strongest possible terms fuck that. Employers who won't pay an equitable wage for devs don't deserve to hire them.

dml2135 5y ago
I'm not really sure that equitable is the right term to use here. $50k a year may very well be in line with what everyone else at a hypothetical midwestern company is making. I think it's always important to keep in mind that current developer salaries are the result of a constrained market and not because we innately deserve it or something. Yes it is a high-skill job, but there are plenty of high-skill jobs out there that pay much less.
- teach 5y ago
  I wish more people understood this. I spent the first twenty years of my career as a public school teacher, and the last four as a software engineer. Most of the teachers I knew worked _literally_ twice as hard as the average software engineer I know now, even though they're paid one third as much. And finding good teachers is just as difficult as finding good ICs. I think the ONLY difference is that it is possible for a lot more people to teach badly than to code badly. And of course that society has decided that teachers aren't worth paying very much.
shagie 5y ago
I made about $50k/y at a two different midwestern companies. I was getting paid about 2x the per capita income. I was able to buy a house with a double lot with a nice fenced lawn for $60k (no typo there, yes, $60k). I was reasonably paid for the area. Sure, I could have been making more if I was to go to a different company (challenging in '09). I'm making more now for a different employer in the midwest. The thing is that there are companies that don't make $100k/y revenue for the work that the devs do. There are also devs who are willing to work for $50k/y in the rural midwest (which is better than other jobs in the area pay). To assume that those devs should be paid the same as one in SF would have ultimately meant a loss of jobs in the area as the business wouldn't be able to afford to do that. There are plenty of places that are not the mid west that are paying more.

dml2135 5y ago

I'm not really sure that equitable is the right term to use here. $50k a year may very well be in line with what everyone else at a hypothetical midwestern company is making. I think it's always important to keep in mind that current developer salaries are the result of a constrained market and not because we innately deserve it or something. Yes it is a high-skill job, but there are plenty of high-skill jobs out there that pay much less.

teach 5y ago
I wish more people understood this. I spent the first twenty years of my career as a public school teacher, and the last four as a software engineer. Most of the teachers I knew worked _literally_ twice as hard as the average software engineer I know now, even though they're paid one third as much. And finding good teachers is just as difficult as finding good ICs. I think the ONLY difference is that it is possible for a lot more people to teach badly than to code badly. And of course that society has decided that teachers aren't worth paying very much.

shagie 5y ago

I made about $50k/y at a two different midwestern companies. I was getting paid about 2x the per capita income. I was able to buy a house with a double lot with a nice fenced lawn for $60k (no typo there, yes, $60k). I was reasonably paid for the area. Sure, I could have been making more if I was to go to a different company (challenging in '09). I'm making more now for a different employer in the midwest. The thing is that there are companies that don't make $100k/y revenue for the work that the devs do. There are also devs who are willing to work for $50k/y in the rural midwest (which is better than other jobs in the area pay). To assume that those devs should be paid the same as one in SF would have ultimately meant a loss of jobs in the area as the business wouldn't be able to afford to do that. There are plenty of places that are not the mid west that are paying more.