5 ms·

I would guess the one big difference is respect. For some reason, there is no respect for tech workers.

by GoToRO 4y ago

tetromino_ 4y ago
But tech workers get far more respect than people in OP's current role of a receptionist, barista, waiter, and/or housekeeping.
- GoToRO 4y ago
  Working with the public is different and yes, worse that software development. I was referring more to interactions with your boss or colleagues.
- michaelt 4y ago
  By most measures, yes. Tech workers get more money, better hours, easier working conditions, and will impress your partner's parents more. But I'd wager the barista gets thanked more often, and their customers like them more.
  - tetromino_ 4y ago
    Some customers will like them. Some will thank them - and once in a blue moon, even thank them sincerely. But a small but non-zero subset of customers will scream in their face, curse them out in graphic terms, and threaten to get them fired or arrested for some perceived slight or mistake. And a larger subset will very obviously treat them as "servant class".
  - tekla 4y ago
    I'm going to guess you have never worked a service job. It sucks. People suck, you get yelled at, insulted, demeaned, shit pay, long hours. Tech work is the cushiest job ever. It takes almost no effort to get into, you get paid insanely well, and skills are always in demand. What is there to complain about?
    - seanw444 4y ago
      It's a nice field in comparison for sure. But some people really do have bad experiences in tech.
    - michaelt 4y ago
      You did notice the first line of my post, right? Where I said by most measures tech work is a better job? :)
weakfish 4y ago
How?
Version467 4y ago
What do you mean by that? Admittedly, I'm not in the US, but it seems to me that tech work is a very respected profession. Especially compared to service work. The notion that someone would leave the tech world for a job in the service industry because it comes with more respect is absolutely wild to me. That's so far away from my personal experience I honestly can't fit it into my mental model of the world. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, or maybe your experience is actually super different from mine. Either way I'd be very interested in an elaboration.
- selimthegrim 4y ago
  > The notion that someone would leave the tech world for a job in the service industry because it comes with more respect is absolutely wild to me. There are definitely tourist-heavy parts of the US where this is absolutely true.
- GoToRO 4y ago
  (not US) It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on. When I interacted with blue collars, they got more respect from their boss or colleagues. Of course, "working with the public" is different and I would guess the only job that is more toxic than programming.
  - gvedem 4y ago
    >It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on it seems like everyone in this thread saying "tech workers get no respect" actually just work for shit companies...
    - ornornor 4y ago
      There are a lot of shit companies out there. In fact, I’d posit the average company is a shit company.
fwlr 4y ago
Obviously I can’t speak to your experiences, but I definitely got more respect working as a developer than I do as a receptionist.
- roland35 4y ago
  This seems a little bit ridiculous to be honest. I know some developers don't feel respected, but I think a lot of this is due to poor communication skills honestly
projectazorian 4y ago
If you’re in SF, NYC, or another major city, anyone not in tech or an adjacent field sees you as a techbro gentrifier who is ruining their city. That makes it hard to make friends. You’re basically starting out at -20 reputation with 60-70% of people you meet.
jjav 4y ago
> I would guess the one big difference is respect. For some reason, there is no respect for tech workers. Perhaps OP meant as a trend over time? That has truth to it if you compare going back to the early 90s (my frame of reference). In the 90s programming was not that well-paid, but was a very respected role in the companies I and my circle of programmer friends inhabited. A programmer/sysadmin was a wizard and treated as such. It was a vastly more fun industry to be in even if salaries were just regular white-collar professional level. Slowly in the 00s after the dot com crash that seems to have vanished even as salaries started to climb. An in the 2010s programming became a low-level job where all the decision making power was removed from programmers and handed over to PMs. Now programmers are seens as replaceable worker units to be micromanaged to death via agile and daily status reports. In other words, not respected professionals anymore. The insane salaries kind of make up for the loss of respect, but not fully. For the first couple decades of my career I always felt this was the best field of work ever, and it was. These days though, as I look at my high school peers who went into medicine, law, accounting I have to wonder. They all get ever more respected in their fields as they gain more experience, very much not the case in software anymore.

I would guess the one big difference is respect. For some reason, there is no respect for tech workers.

by GoToRO 4y ago

I would guess the one big difference is respect. For some reason, there is no respect for tech workers.

But tech workers get far more respect than people in OP's current role of a receptionist, barista, waiter, and/or housekeeping.

GoToRO 4y ago
Working with the public is different and yes, worse that software development. I was referring more to interactions with your boss or colleagues.
michaelt 4y ago
By most measures, yes. Tech workers get more money, better hours, easier working conditions, and will impress your partner's parents more. But I'd wager the barista gets thanked more often, and their customers like them more.
- tetromino_ 4y ago
  Some customers will like them. Some will thank them - and once in a blue moon, even thank them sincerely. But a small but non-zero subset of customers will scream in their face, curse them out in graphic terms, and threaten to get them fired or arrested for some perceived slight or mistake. And a larger subset will very obviously treat them as "servant class".
- tekla 4y ago
  I'm going to guess you have never worked a service job. It sucks. People suck, you get yelled at, insulted, demeaned, shit pay, long hours. Tech work is the cushiest job ever. It takes almost no effort to get into, you get paid insanely well, and skills are always in demand. What is there to complain about?
  - seanw444 4y ago
    It's a nice field in comparison for sure. But some people really do have bad experiences in tech.
  - michaelt 4y ago
    You did notice the first line of my post, right? Where I said by most measures tech work is a better job? :)

weakfish 4y ago

How?

Version467 4y ago

What do you mean by that? Admittedly, I'm not in the US, but it seems to me that tech work is a very respected profession. Especially compared to service work. The notion that someone would leave the tech world for a job in the service industry because it comes with more respect is absolutely wild to me. That's so far away from my personal experience I honestly can't fit it into my mental model of the world. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, or maybe your experience is actually super different from mine. Either way I'd be very interested in an elaboration.

selimthegrim 4y ago
> The notion that someone would leave the tech world for a job in the service industry because it comes with more respect is absolutely wild to me. There are definitely tourist-heavy parts of the US where this is absolutely true.
GoToRO 4y ago
(not US) It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on. When I interacted with blue collars, they got more respect from their boss or colleagues. Of course, "working with the public" is different and I would guess the only job that is more toxic than programming.
- gvedem 4y ago
  >It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on it seems like everyone in this thread saying "tech workers get no respect" actually just work for shit companies...
  - ornornor 4y ago
    There are a lot of shit companies out there. In fact, I’d posit the average company is a shit company.

fwlr 4y ago

Obviously I can’t speak to your experiences, but I definitely got more respect working as a developer than I do as a receptionist.

roland35 4y ago
This seems a little bit ridiculous to be honest. I know some developers don't feel respected, but I think a lot of this is due to poor communication skills honestly

projectazorian 4y ago

If you’re in SF, NYC, or another major city, anyone not in tech or an adjacent field sees you as a techbro gentrifier who is ruining their city. That makes it hard to make friends. You’re basically starting out at -20 reputation with 60-70% of people you meet.

jjav 4y ago

> I would guess the one big difference is respect. For some reason, there is no respect for tech workers. Perhaps OP meant as a trend over time? That has truth to it if you compare going back to the early 90s (my frame of reference). In the 90s programming was not that well-paid, but was a very respected role in the companies I and my circle of programmer friends inhabited. A programmer/sysadmin was a wizard and treated as such. It was a vastly more fun industry to be in even if salaries were just regular white-collar professional level. Slowly in the 00s after the dot com crash that seems to have vanished even as salaries started to climb. An in the 2010s programming became a low-level job where all the decision making power was removed from programmers and handed over to PMs. Now programmers are seens as replaceable worker units to be micromanaged to death via agile and daily status reports. In other words, not respected professionals anymore. The insane salaries kind of make up for the loss of respect, but not fully. For the first couple decades of my career I always felt this was the best field of work ever, and it was. These days though, as I look at my high school peers who went into medicine, law, accounting I have to wonder. They all get ever more respected in their fields as they gain more experience, very much not the case in software anymore.