I think the relatively low pay and status of software engineers outside of the Bay Area is a huge risk to society. We are going to start seeing it show up in interesting places.
Some companies can't compete, and many others just refuse to compete.
It's actually a valid POV for that environment, but it has been difficult for me to adjust. I'm sure it's even harder for them to adjust the other way, to an environment where you don't even know who's running your code until they report a catastrophic failure. Prevention hardly seems like a waste of time then.
Boeing can’t H1-B its way out of underpaying like other engineer employers.
Many engineers don't get rewarded for 150 IQ smarts. They get rewarded for hustle. (Whether in a startup, or at FAANG, you can have an incredibly successful, and lucrative career, without being incredibly technically capable.)
When you're working on safety-critical aerospace code, Boeing doesn't, and probably shouldn't give two shits about your hustling skills.
In comparison German Engineers are not paid very well, so do you assume they are lesser skilled than US engineers? [1]
1: https://www.payscale.com/research/DE/Job=Software_Engineer/S... https://news.ycombinator.com/news
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19375141
Maybe Google is overpaying their engineers?