It remains to be seen what will happen to developer employment in the next global economic contraction. The US equity & IPO markets are likely ballooning wages

It remains to be seen what will happen to developer employment in the next global economic contraction. The US equity & IPO markets are likely ballooning wages on the high end. Long term certainly there remains a lot of transition from paper to bits and then require really skilled developers to maintain and grow after the transition. There should also be a lot more programmers then. Communication skills & who is employing you matter a lot. A mediocre developer can charge a lot when they are working alone on a project for a non-technical company. That isn't going to work when placed in a position where its obvious your work is crap. Of course inflation means wages will go hell above $100, but what that means is entirely relative. That said, it is nice to be in an area where your wages are not neck and neck with robots. Increasing minimum wages + almost zero % interest rates are converging on unskilled labor very quickly.