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Ask HN: Why do FAANG senior software engineers earn more than doctors?

1 points by mgh2 4y ago

[1] https://www.investopedia.com/personal-finance/top-highest-paying-jobs/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31591037

jppope 4y ago
They do not earn more than Medical Doctors.
yuppie_scum 4y ago
Are you comparing a senior FAANG software engineer to the mean salary of all doctors in the country? Because that’s a cherry pick.
- mgh2 4y ago
  Fair enough, edited title
tpmx 4y ago
Pretty sure they don't, on average.
al_borland 4y ago
Assuming salaries exist for each profession on a standard bell curve. Your first link has the salaries of those dead center. Your second link cherry picks a single person who is a few standard deviations to the right.
tempsy 4y ago
ageism is rampant in software engineering. it’s more like a professional sport where you might be relatively high paid for awhile but unless you’re one of the few who can transition to management you will be in a precarious position at some point long before retirement age whereas you can be a doctor up until you choose to retire from old age. also a significant chunk of pay is in volatile assets eg stock comp. as we’ve seen this past year that is not guaranteed. many people who thought they’d be making $500k a year are now looking at $200k depending on the company.
- sys_64738 4y ago
  Being a doctor is tough because you constantly have to go to conferences to keep up to date with the latest and greatest techniques and technologies. Doctoring also has agism from patients who don't won't somebody too young and don't want somebody too old. Then there's malpractice insurance premiums.
  - WheelsAtLarge 4y ago
    "constantly have to go to conferences to keep up to date" you would think. But that hasn't been my experience. Most doctors don't know much more than what they learned in school and maybe the 1st five years of experience. If things get tough they pass the buck to other doctors or they just wait and hope things will fix themselves. There are superstars but like in any field they are the minority not the majority. Most of them are hard workers, it's not out of the norm for them to have every minute of their work day scheduled. I'm surprised you don't see more of them burnout. My suspicion is that there are a few Software engineers that are out of the norm regarding salary but for the most part doctors earn more than Software Engineers.
rossdavidh 4y ago
"450k/year", as your second link shows, is not a typical software engineer salary.
sys_64738 4y ago
You also gotta remember that doctors don't really start earning big $$$ until much later in their career. Maybe not until they are late 20s.
- WheelsAtLarge 4y ago
  Yes, but most Info tech careers start to end in the 40's. By the time most software engineers hit their 50's they are struggling to find a job or switched career all together. That's not the case for doctors. I'm one that advocates the idea that Info tech workers should plan to retire in their early 50's not 65+. So they should start planning and saving with that idea in mind.
jleyank 4y ago
Take the family practitioners out of the doctor average. Probably the radiologists as well. These people are the sysadmins of the med biz. Look at the top surgeons or orthopods, those who fix athletes, for the high end salaries. Or plastic surgeon to the stars.

1 points by mgh2 4y ago

[1] https://www.investopedia.com/personal-finance/top-highest-paying-jobs/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31591037

jppope 4y ago

They do not earn more than Medical Doctors.

yuppie_scum 4y ago

Are you comparing a senior FAANG software engineer to the mean salary of all doctors in the country? Because that’s a cherry pick.

mgh2 4y ago
Fair enough, edited title

tpmx 4y ago

Pretty sure they don't, on average.

al_borland 4y ago

Assuming salaries exist for each profession on a standard bell curve. Your first link has the salaries of those dead center. Your second link cherry picks a single person who is a few standard deviations to the right.

tempsy 4y ago

ageism is rampant in software engineering. it’s more like a professional sport where you might be relatively high paid for awhile but unless you’re one of the few who can transition to management you will be in a precarious position at some point long before retirement age whereas you can be a doctor up until you choose to retire from old age. also a significant chunk of pay is in volatile assets eg stock comp. as we’ve seen this past year that is not guaranteed. many people who thought they’d be making $500k a year are now looking at $200k depending on the company.

sys_64738 4y ago
Being a doctor is tough because you constantly have to go to conferences to keep up to date with the latest and greatest techniques and technologies. Doctoring also has agism from patients who don't won't somebody too young and don't want somebody too old. Then there's malpractice insurance premiums.
- WheelsAtLarge 4y ago
  "constantly have to go to conferences to keep up to date" you would think. But that hasn't been my experience. Most doctors don't know much more than what they learned in school and maybe the 1st five years of experience. If things get tough they pass the buck to other doctors or they just wait and hope things will fix themselves. There are superstars but like in any field they are the minority not the majority. Most of them are hard workers, it's not out of the norm for them to have every minute of their work day scheduled. I'm surprised you don't see more of them burnout. My suspicion is that there are a few Software engineers that are out of the norm regarding salary but for the most part doctors earn more than Software Engineers.

rossdavidh 4y ago

"450k/year", as your second link shows, is not a typical software engineer salary.

sys_64738 4y ago

You also gotta remember that doctors don't really start earning big $$$ until much later in their career. Maybe not until they are late 20s.

WheelsAtLarge 4y ago
Yes, but most Info tech careers start to end in the 40's. By the time most software engineers hit their 50's they are struggling to find a job or switched career all together. That's not the case for doctors. I'm one that advocates the idea that Info tech workers should plan to retire in their early 50's not 65+. So they should start planning and saving with that idea in mind.

jleyank 4y ago

Take the family practitioners out of the doctor average. Probably the radiologists as well. These people are the sysadmins of the med biz. Look at the top surgeons or orthopods, those who fix athletes, for the high end salaries. Or plastic surgeon to the stars.