Comment by psychoslave

3 years ago

>SWE's are not the only ones that think that their pay is low compared to their intelligence level, their education level, how tough, inconvenient or important their work is or what they feel they deserve for some other reason.

Sure, but it doesn’t mean some or all of them are not right, especially when the unequal distribution of wealth is well known and documented to evolve for the worst.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_wealth#Global_...

4 comments

psychoslave

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whimsicalism  3 years ago

This has to do with ownership and inheritance, not that SWEs are poorly paid laborers. Many software engineers are in the global 1% richest.

  • deathanatos  3 years ago

    > Many software engineers are in the global 1% richest.

    I mean, some are, yes, but … I'm not, and I know many SWEs who aren't.

    > According to the 2018 Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse Research Institute, you need a net worth of $871,320

    (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/01/how-much-money-you-need-to-b...)

    I miss that cutoff. But if you narrow to my country, the requirement for being in the top 1% jumps to $11M.

    • trashtester  3 years ago

      Most people don't get into the top 1% net worth by receiving a salary. To get there, you probably have to invest over a long time horizon (possibly more than a generation) while keeping spending to a minimum, inherit the wealth outright, or start a successful company.

      Even successful lawyers need to be senior partners to achieve that kind of wealth ($11M), and don't forget that for each such lawyer, there may be many people who end up as some clerk or generic legal representative in some organization, who may have salaries much closer to a SWE.