2 ms·

> Everything I read on the internet suggests that UK tech salaries are extremely low, and that the profession has a low level of respect overall. For salaries

> Everything I read on the internet suggests that UK tech salaries are extremely low, and that the profession has a low level of respect overall. For salaries, we're better paid than the vast majority of white-collar workers to the point it becomes a running joke. I once got asked by a standup comedian doing a set what my job is, I said software dev, and he answered "blimey you must be fuckin loaded". We're not at the level of the US, but we're probably higher than most of Western Europe, at least after CoL (e.g. https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/uk-developers-best-paid-europe-2021-02/ https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/uk-developer...). It can be tricky to compare salaries across countries, but I can't imagine the massive amounts of European developers came to London for the climate. As for respect, I don't really know what you mean. Beyond professions like nurses/social workers, I (and I hope most people) don't really base respect on profession. We probably get more professional respect in the workplace, we get away with stuff the other departments definitely don't, but personal respect? Just doesn't come into it, unless you're a social worker or nurse or something.

erdo 5y ago
I think I might know what the OP means by respect. You see it in Thai dev recruitment ads, they sometimes mandate developers to be 27 years old or younger, the implication seems to be that if you are still a developer by the time you're 28, then there must be something wrong with you. It can be seen as something akin to an admin role, for which more than two years experience would be pointless. I never experienced that in London, quite the opposite, devs have a mystic status as the person who probably earns more than anyone else, doing something no one understands and still wears a t-shirt to work. I do see the low respect attitude in Paris a little though (or perhaps it's simply budget constraints). The best development is the cheapest, for instance there are a lot more react native gigs here where they want one person to do both an iOS and an Android app, and the contract is for 3 months. I don't touch those with a barge pole because they'll end up with junk that barely works of course

erdo 5y ago

I think I might know what the OP means by respect. You see it in Thai dev recruitment ads, they sometimes mandate developers to be 27 years old or younger, the implication seems to be that if you are still a developer by the time you're 28, then there must be something wrong with you. It can be seen as something akin to an admin role, for which more than two years experience would be pointless. I never experienced that in London, quite the opposite, devs have a mystic status as the person who probably earns more than anyone else, doing something no one understands and still wears a t-shirt to work. I do see the low respect attitude in Paris a little though (or perhaps it's simply budget constraints). The best development is the cheapest, for instance there are a lot more react native gigs here where they want one person to do both an iOS and an Android app, and the contract is for 3 months. I don't touch those with a barge pole because they'll end up with junk that barely works of course