Re:Programmer Salaries in the Age of LLMs
by testtesttesst on Monday January 16, 2023 @11:00PM
(#34408969)
>Software engineers in aggregate think and act like they’re working in a meritocracy (we aren’t)
Not a meritocracy, a market. "Meritocracy" implies some kind of value judgement (ex: "they are paid fairly" or "paid what they're worth"). The fundamental question is about the labor market and its efficiency.
I'll argue: your value in the market -- as an experienced engineer worth $230K or whatever ridiculous thing it is now -- is if you can go somewhere else that's willing to pay you $230K+ for your labor. The reason salaries are this number (despite antitrust things like [1]) is that some people actually exercise this option and move to higher paying jobs. And most employment is at-will -- you can leave whenever you want. So the market is at least somewhat efficient in this sense.
But efficiency works both ways. If you think your labor is worth more than what your employer is paying you, then you have to prove it by asking the market.
Not a meritocracy, a market. "Meritocracy" implies some kind of value judgement (ex: "they are paid fairly" or "paid what they're worth"). The fundamental question is about the labor market and its efficiency.
I'll argue: your value in the market -- as an experienced engineer worth $230K or whatever ridiculous thing it is now -- is if you can go somewhere else that's willing to pay you $230K+ for your labor. The reason salaries are this number (despite antitrust things like [1]) is that some people actually exercise this option and move to higher paying jobs. And most employment is at-will -- you can leave whenever you want. So the market is at least somewhat efficient in this sense.
But efficiency works both ways. If you think your labor is worth more than what your employer is paying you, then you have to prove it by asking the market.
[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust...