2 ms·
> I suspect it's because much of the field is actually quite junior Most of the people I know in embedded development are greybeards. There aren't a lot of you
by UncleOxidant 4y ago
> I suspect it's because much of the field is actually quite junior
Most of the people I know in embedded development are greybeards. There aren't a lot of younger people going into the field. The schools don't seem to be prepping a lot of people for these kinds of jobs. (not sure what we're going to do because a lot of these guys are in their 60s and about ready to retire)
> These skills take years to accumulate.
Indeed. Which is why the low pay is all the more puzzling, but I have theories:
As mentioned above, most embedded devs are greybeards. They don't move around much. They probably aren't as familiar with the much higher pay people are getting at the FAANGs, etc. They aren't as likely to have a LinkedIn profile or if they do they don't spend much time there. As an older dev myself, it's not like I'm clamoring for higher pay: my mortgage payment is quite low compared to rent (and will be paid off completely next year), my cars are old but paid off, don't have any debt other than the soon-to-be-paid off mortgage. All this to say that older devs maybe don't make as much money because they're not as aware of market rates and they don't really feel like they need a lot more money if they're happy where they're at.
- cushychicken 4y agoI know at least five people doing embedded systems work in the greater Boston area who are comfortably pulling in north of $200k a year. The pay is there. I'm not sure why there's this persistent notion that it's not.
- AlotOfReading 4y agoThat's well above the 95th percentile for Boston, and a bit above 90th for south bay. As someone who is in embedded above that level as well, I can assure you that it's a highly abnormal situation for the vast majority of ES devs. Most companies pay far below what they compensate other SWEs at. 100k-200k total compensation is about the norm for the majority of the market.