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Yeah you're right. It probably really comes down to a lack of potential employers. Hopefully this push by the US can change that.

• ghaff 3y ago
  Other branches of engineering: mechanical engineering, material science, chemical engineering, certainly civil engineering tend to pay at a lower level overall as well. And the purer sciences often require advanced degrees to get "real" jobs at all. When I worked for a computer systems company after school, my impression was that the various types of engineers at the company were on fairly similar pay scales. What I think you've seen the past couple of decades is that out-sized salaries at some mostly software-related West Coast companies have really driven up compensation for specific types of jobs. It seems more likely that will settle down to levels with comparable jobs over time than the other way around as a lot of people who are late to the game try to jump in.
• ip26 3y ago
  That's an interesting angle I'd never considered. If the government simply creates a lot of potential employers via funding, the labor market becomes competitive, which improves working conditions, compensation, and ultimately attracts talent that would not have otherwise considered the industry. The most interesting part is that outcome is almost a certainty if the government focuses on creating that competitive labor market through their investments; it doesn't require moonshots, breakthroughs, or wild successes to work, yet it can produce them, and can become self-sustaining.