[wildrhythms]

>we all negotiate accordingly

This is quite a sweeping statement to make. My first engineering job salary was non-negotiable. I was told to either accept it, or they 'rapidly' move to another candidate.

[staticassertion]

I meant more collectively. But of course, yes, it's sweeping. It'll change regionally, or based on experience, or company culture, etc.

But I don't think it's unfair to say, especially in the US, that software engineers are highly compensated.