You are not completely alone in this. And there's also the statement right alongside that equates the difficulty level with working late. One problem is that t

You are not completely alone in this. And there's also the statement right alongside that equates the difficulty level with working late. One problem is that the term "programmer" covers such a wide range, from "code monkey" through "business analyst who codes." The range of productivity in code monkeys varies greatly, but they are still essentially fungible. When you start adding analysis and problem solving skills value goes up and fungibility goes down. In organizations that have formalized the separation of coding from analysis and problem solving, the coding roles will (and should) pay less. I think that's a bad decision, but it's certainly common enough.