Times are great for programmers now. How does it end?

Re:Times are great for programmers now. How does it end? by hkt on Monday February 21, 2022 @06:20AM (#30414476)

Wage theft is endemic in programming. Think of all those colleagues who have worked late on a deadline because somebody pressured them into it. They're reducing their own effective hourly rate and contributing to a long hours culture because of the daily ritual of humiliation at standup. It is very different to the restaurant analogy but wage theft and humiliation are still baked in for many of us.

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Re:Times are great for programmers now. How does it end? by lowercased on Monday February 21, 2022 @06:58AM (#30414801)

> but wage theft and humiliation are still baked in for many of us

It's harder to get much sympathy from others as well if/when you're paid much higher than many other averages. Using the term 'wage theft' - normally used in discussions around minimum wage job abuses - for someone who's making $80/hr, (and may get some stock/bonus) doesn't get the same sort of reaction. The term doesn't even feel quite right, but that may be just because I've heard it so often relating to the lower end. I'd imagine it's not even about money so much for many folks as much as it is about time.

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Re:Times are great for programmers now. How does it end? by Aeolun on Monday February 21, 2022 @10:23AM (#30416822)

But money is time. If my employer feels strongly enough about getting something finished tonight, they’ll have to pay for it (e.g. paid overtime). This naturally limits how much overtime your company would like you to do, and puts some backpressure one those managers burning through budget like there is no tomorrow.

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Re:Times are great for programmers now. How does it end? by schwartzworld on Monday February 21, 2022 @07:29AM (#30415120)

When you accept a salaried position, you understand that there are going to be weeks your "effective hourly" fluctuates. Some weeks I have lots of work. Some I don't. I have sympathy but that's not wage theft.

Actual wage theft is very common in food service. As in, you earn the money and someone else takes it.

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Re:Times are great for programmers now. How does it end? by davemp on Monday February 21, 2022 @10:15AM (#30416734)

Most software positions have a never ending backlog of work that can easily fill 40hrs of any week. Meaning a salary set at 40hrs/wk is pure downside to the work as your actual job expectations have a floor of 40hr weeks but sometimes 50-60hr+ weeks during crunch times.

It's essentially legalized wage theft.

Thankfully I get paid hourly, but still when I do overtime it's only paid at a x1 multiplier because the dinosaurs in office deemed 'computer workers' [1] are exempt from fair labor regulations. Likely, those in power guessed that they could safely chip away at more worker's rights because most of the voting base won't feel solidarity for highly paid salary positions and 'computer workers'.

[1]: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/17e-overtime-co...

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Re:Times are great for programmers now. How does it end? by thehappypm on Monday February 21, 2022 @12:53PM (#30418587)

Counterpoint, almost every tech worker I know works like 30 hours a week in all honesty.

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Re:Times are great for programmers now. How does it end? by maxwell on Monday February 21, 2022 @08:30AM (#30415654)

I've worked unpaid overtime at every tech job I've had. On the flip side, I never had any wage issues in 5 years in food service, other than that the pay isn't livable.

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