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by dasil003 3639 days ago
So getting paid way above market and working at a place where software engineering talent is highly respected and valued is "losing out"?

I'm sorry but this entitled attitude just grates at me. If you are in SV getting paid 3-5 times the median household income you already are in the 1% and you already have all the advantages in terms of upward mobility. If you want to earn millions go out and start your own company, it is ridiculous to demand a high salary and a high equity payout. You are not entitled to anything except what you can negotiate.

There is nothing inherent in software engineering that makes it worth $100k minimum per head, it is only worth that much if it supports a business that can earn that much. The fact that SV is one of the bright spots in the economy of the last decade has really started to go to software engineers heads. If you believe you are worth more than what you are being offered, the only way to prove it is to go out and build a business yourself. You can't look at the 1% of the 1% who got a lucky windfall from being in the right place at the right time, and use that as your baseline for "fairness". Try facing the economic struggles that 50% of the country is dealing with, and then tell me how bad Google is screwing its employees.

2 comments

1. Not all employees are paid above market value

2. Working somewhere that software engineering talent is highly respected is no measure of fiscal compensation

3. Those advantages of upward mobility are learnt, or acquired skills that people work at. There is no opportunity for them to be in the same position as a 1%er living off their parents money to invest and then continue to get rich(er)

4. You imply that employees have the ability to negotiate on-par with any investor

5. Your last point about $100k is odd, that's just supply and demand in a free market - and the sentiment is doubley-odd given that employee salaries have stagnated since the 70's, SV salaries have been proven to be (somewhat) rigged, also it is in any companies corporate interests to pay the lowest possible amount for any resource.

Lastly, your point about the 1% of the 1% is off-topic - and I agree that they're not necessarily to blame for the widening gap between rich and poor - but without proper incentives for the 99% to go to work, then that 1% of wealth could become worthless if society revolts because of the disproportionate distribution.

My point is simply that alternative vehicles for employee remuneration need to exist beyond the status-quo that's legally existed for decades.

You specifically called out Google in your comment. As a result your arguments feel odd, since Google has a reputation for high salaries and high quality of life. If you specifically mention Google as a problem, you must hate the vast majority of the industry that both doesn't compensate as well and doesn't offer comparable quality of life. In other words, if you aren't happy as a software engineer at Google, where would you be happier?
I did not say Google is a problem, I said that either the current mechanism or the proposed mechanism would present a problem for companies (such as Google) when hiring new staff.
Well, they were convicted in a price fixing scandal not too long ago [1]. How soon it is forgotten though. How strange.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L...