You've been mislead on the "common pay" for software developers by the overemphasis of total compensation from FAANG (partially due to HN bias). Outside of FAANG, most developers earn less than you think in the US, and outside the US, it's even drastically less.

As a person whose very sensitive to scents there's an entire world of folks who are debilitated by them!

I can often tell if someone was wearing anything but the mere hint of perfume minutes after they've left an area, and anything stronger gives me headaches or worse.

Great perspective that I wouldn't have considered. Thanks for sharing!

I am very allergic to many common fragrances and it makes my life really uncomfortable very frequently. Some of them are worse than others but commercial grade cleaning products are some of the worst. And it’s not just problematic for me to be in the bathroom where they’re used, but sometimes entire sections of the building that are close to the bathrooms. I get immediate physically uncomfortable symptoms and prolonged exposure can actually cause ETD and a resulting debilitating vertigo where I can’t even sit up for five hours and vomit the entire time. It’s not just fragrances that contribute to this but it’s a large part of it

The idea that they “bristled” at a union supporting people like me is total shit

It's great the union was pushing for unscented cleaning supplies.

I have a friend who is very sensitive to scents. She may not be able to work in a typical office again because of it. I'm very sensitive to harsh fluorescent lighting and noisy office environments and get migraines. You can push through for a while but eventually you burn out.

We've also realized we're both "mildly" autistic [1] over the last few years, along with quite a few other software engineer friends. The sensory sensitivities fall under that umbrella.

Tech has traditionally been more accepting of neurodiversity than other careers, so it's great to see a tech union raising issue like this that don't cost much but make a big difference for anyone affected.

[1] Book: Unmasking Autism by Devon Price