Re:Ask HN: Have developers become a commoditised resource?
by ilaksh on Sunday July 19, 2020 @05:02PM
(#23892406)
The reality is that there are different markets and different market segments.
There is actually a large segment of the online marketplace where I would say "commoditized" is almost accurate especially when compared with some Silicon Valley rates. And this does in fact include a significant percentage of highly skilled programmers.
Of course, when you are in the commodity rate range, finding the highly skilled programmers is a challenge. But as I said, they do exist.
But there is a limit to how far that goes. You will see massive discounts when comparing some markets, but the less common knowledge still is at a premium rate.
One caveat is that there will often be a minor concession in terms of something like English language proficiency for example.
But I think that us programmers actually should try to take proactive steps to slow the race to the bottom in terms of compensation. Especially as remote becomes mainstream and markets open up to online and overseas programmers even more.
My own personal belief, which is really just pure speculation, is that ordinary types of programming will be automated by artificial general intelligence within one or two decades. So I personally think that the wage labor paradigm and other core aspects of our economic system will be completely obsoleted.
There is actually a large segment of the online marketplace where I would say "commoditized" is almost accurate especially when compared with some Silicon Valley rates. And this does in fact include a significant percentage of highly skilled programmers.
Of course, when you are in the commodity rate range, finding the highly skilled programmers is a challenge. But as I said, they do exist.
But there is a limit to how far that goes. You will see massive discounts when comparing some markets, but the less common knowledge still is at a premium rate.
One caveat is that there will often be a minor concession in terms of something like English language proficiency for example.
But I think that us programmers actually should try to take proactive steps to slow the race to the bottom in terms of compensation. Especially as remote becomes mainstream and markets open up to online and overseas programmers even more.
My own personal belief, which is really just pure speculation, is that ordinary types of programming will be automated by artificial general intelligence within one or two decades. So I personally think that the wage labor paradigm and other core aspects of our economic system will be completely obsoleted.