| This isn't just unpopular, it's ignorantly wrong. I've done blue collar work and CS work. Also the whole romanticizing of busting one's ass pisses me off to no end. > IMO blue collar work is a better option because it's easier work and more stable, and lets you have a life outside work. In software the hours are increasing to no real benefit, and free time is burnt just keeping with the times. This is all but objectively false for journeyman level. As the new guy on site you better believe you aren't taking it easy. Hauling shingles, hauling siding, digging ditches, doing whatever the older guys don't/physically can't do anymore. Wanna know why they can't do it anymore? Because that's what they spent their 20s doing. Sure when you get home you're not thinking about your trade, most of the time, but it's not like you're free and clear. You didn't just spend 8 hours sitting in a chair thinking about problems. You just spent 8 hours on your feet doing work. Now after work you're covered in dirty/sweat/paint/etc. Gotta clean up before you can relax. Granted you don't have to study the new JS framework in vogue, but then again neither do I. Though on the flip side my job doesn't leave me worn out physically and unable to enjoy free time. >The evolution of tools, best practices and high availability of quality knowledge has made it trivial to spin up new hires which makes everyone highly expendable; not to mention that there are now millions of unwashed masses happy to accept lower wages just for their chance. I... what? Are you suggesting knowledge work is somehow easier to teach to people than a trade? That the tens of thousands of home-repair, car repair, plumbing, siding, painting, etc, etc videos for blue collar work don't exist? That somehow these are inaccessible to the aforementioned 'unwashed masses'? > There was a HN post a while back where some guy was begging to pay for a code job. What does that tell you? That there was an outlier? > Software workers are also now pitted against a global market with outsourcing and programs like H-1B which has raised the bar by increasing the pool of highly educated candidates and people who commit resume fraud. This is literally the "they're taking our jobs" line with different vocabulary. And based on what OP says about their credentials most blue collar work wouldn't take them due to over qualification. > They're likely also more willing to work long hours for less pay just to be in the US. Software wages have also stagnated for ten years. Whee dog whistles. I hate everything about this post. |