Was just now watching the news. Want to make a pile of money quick? Go to Ukraine and help locate and remove land mines. 
No college degree required.
No college degree required.
What happens if high tech workers making six figures are no longer a hot commodity?
- Thread starter GON
- Start date
I agree. These workers earn their money too. The temperature outside can be freezing cold or 100 degrees and they have to be outside working or driving heavy equipment and many times without air conditioning. The workers deserve to get paid well.
Usually these high tech workers will find a new job with the same pay. It's all about diversity. I have changed careers a few times and it's always been a step up. I went from working in a packinghouse to driving a truck with no air conditioning to an office job. The last 30 plus years have been in an office environment with the air conditioner blowing on my back until I retired a year ago. Here is a picture of my office from my last job as a private student loan associate. I was employed in customer service, collections, and giving out forbearances on student loans. People have a way of seeking jobs which will continue to benefit them and their families. A recession is when you are employed and working and a depression is when you are laid off and cannot obtain gainfull employment.
Attachments
LOL, this is so ironic because my dad, VERY angry at my career choice, preached to me decades ago that he witnessed people with my career ending up digging ditches along the roadside!
FYI, I would die if I was forced to always work in a cubicle or office.
I do have to chuckle a little bit at the thread title, considering Technology is one of the fastest growing fields necessary to practically every organization. With that said, usually people in technical fields making six figures are doing so because they have skills to offer. If they lose that job, they can likely get a similar one somewhere else, even if for slightly less money, since the skills they have are still valuable in some form.
Temporary gigs where people make lots of money in a short time as a contractor are more volatile. I see some of those youtube channels or social media influencers quitting their jobs to do it full time, and part of me hopes they are really investing what they make, because something like that isn't long term.
Temporary gigs where people make lots of money in a short time as a contractor are more volatile. I see some of those youtube channels or social media influencers quitting their jobs to do it full time, and part of me hopes they are really investing what they make, because something like that isn't long term.
down scale housing/lifestyle
/OR/
start their own business (in fact should be starting something low level RIGHT now. Start to grow it so as to not get whacked as the other falls apart / have to put huge energy into a start up). 'S what many of us do/did. We do it when young as that's when we have the energy. Also investments NOW while young to allow the compounding of time~
/OR/
late, during pre-retirement. Like to keep something going rather than full retirement (sm income / sm inputs due to energy/age). He should do it now, as a youngster tho.
Very true, at least around here. In fact, the good ones are pulled from one company to another. Make your mark, and you will not need to look for a job. That's why there are "Golden Handcuffs". In some cases, if you have requisite (and rare) skills and are in charge of a process deemed "mission critical" by the C level staff, you will be pushed even harder and rewarded very well for your efforts.
That's my experience.
I have had friends that refused to work at any job where it was necessary to spend more than a short while indoors. Something about being confined and all that. OTOH, none of these friends was performing hard labor in 100F heat.
Can you pull a guy off a roofing crew and set him in front of a computer and write software?
sometimes, yes /
Most times. no.
Their industry either has a market for their skills in like or equal positions, or they will need to seek employment in another vertical market.
Their industry always need smart guys and 100K just isnt that much money anymore for someone that can earn 3-300X their salary for a company.
College is meaningless in more occupations that not.
A successful history and domain knowledge are often way more valuable.
I agree that there's a problem with trying to do heavy physical work after some age. But I'm not so sure it's because of a lifetime of heavy work.
I haven't been able to work on my knees (without knee pads) for years. I have back pain for days after lifting too heavy. And my shoulders both hurt if I do very much. And I've never done much physical work. I'm just getting old.
Identical twin studies show that twins frequently have the same so-called degenerative changes in their lower backs even when they have had hugely discordant work histories (for example one has done heavy manual work, the other office work).
Nonetheless, at some point in their lives people will no longer be comfortable doing heavy manual work, so it would be better to plan ahead and be ready for it. Either be well off and able to retire, or have done the preparation to do something lighter.
Can you pull a guy out of his air conditioned office where he sits all day in front of a computer writing software and put him with an asphalt paving crew when it's 100°F? Most times no. He won't last an hour.
It the worker is willing to do what it takes to learn, then why not?
I am living proof of just that.
I'd be crying...
Without any schooling, I am doubtful they are pulling down 6 figures in their late 20's. But even assuming they are, these are the people most at risk to losing that job and not finding another one of equal pay. People that have degrees in engineering have a basic education that separates them from the kid that walks in during periods of low unemployment. In other words, someone with no school is at a disadvantage when times are tough or the technology changes. Basic science and physics education is always in short supply. Some kid that learns a bit of programming does not have that basis.
Tell them to save their money as life is quite uncertain.
Hafta disagree UD. It takes both.
Yes, there are programmers who are exceptional with little schooling. But that is not nearly as true as it was in the early days.
And yes expertise comes from successful experience (because you learned from others and your mistakes).
The prized programmers have a knowledge of the application subject matter. How can you code a financial forecast, or BOM critical path program without a strong understanding of the subject matter? Your programming skills are just your hand tools. By the way, functional specs are for sissys; they get in my way. If I cannot discuss the subject matter how can I tell a computer to do it?
Nowadays, you hit a ceiling without a degree. That piece of paper opens a lotta doors.
If you want those golden handcuffs, you need to be well rounded. You just may be arguing business logic with a CEO (if you get good enough, that is). But as you say, ultimately results matter.
All good.
Agree, but depends on programming task and location. Google pays $300K right outta school for Data Scientists. Plus a piece of the pie...
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2021
- Messages
- 2,564
I feel personally offended....
Similar threads
