I'll throw in a different angle. If I'm truly happy at a job, pay isn't a big concern as long as I can pay the bills. The more miserable the job becomes, the more the money becomes the only way to tolerate it so it better keep getting higher.
Pay in software roles might be at an all-time high today, but respect and independence is at an all-time low.
In the 90s I had a private office with a door and a window. Today we're packed like sardines into an open office (although thanks to the pandemic this part improved).
In the 90s I worked on deep hardcode tech, today nearly every company just wants to glue libraries to frameworks and connect AWS bits together. Work is no longer intellectually satisfying.
In the 90s tech companies produced tech, that was the product, so it was exciting and hip. Today so-called "tech companies" produce advertising, shopping, social spyware, movies. It's not tech anymore. Boring.
In the 90s, senior engineers drove engineering decisions. Today we have non-technical product managers forcing their way into technical decisions.
In the 90s we were trusted to get things done and allowed the time to get deep in the zone. Today it's forced daily status reports, "agile".
In the 90s we could plan ahead and go deep, research and build well-architected solutions. Today the task better take no more than 1-2 days so the story gets closed, "agile".
I could go on and on but will stop. If software engineering today had the working conditions and respect it had in the 90s, I'd happily do it for 25% of my current salary and be so happy.
I'll throw in a different angle. If I'm truly happy at a job, pay isn't a big concern as long as I can pay the bills. The more miserable the job becomes, the more the money becomes the only way to tolerate it so it better keep getting higher.
Pay in software roles might be at an all-time high today, but respect and independence is at an all-time low.
In the 90s I had a private office with a door and a window. Today we're packed like sardines into an open office (although thanks to the pandemic this part improved).
In the 90s I worked on deep hardcode tech, today nearly every company just wants to glue libraries to frameworks and connect AWS bits together. Work is no longer intellectually satisfying.
In the 90s tech companies produced tech, that was the product, so it was exciting and hip. Today so-called "tech companies" produce advertising, shopping, social spyware, movies. It's not tech anymore. Boring.
In the 90s, senior engineers drove engineering decisions. Today we have non-technical product managers forcing their way into technical decisions.
In the 90s we were trusted to get things done and allowed the time to get deep in the zone. Today it's forced daily status reports, "agile".
In the 90s we could plan ahead and go deep, research and build well-architected solutions. Today the task better take no more than 1-2 days so the story gets closed, "agile".
I could go on and on but will stop. If software engineering today had the working conditions and respect it had in the 90s, I'd happily do it for 25% of my current salary and be so happy.