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Comment by untog | Hacker News Reader

Give me a break.

“Kids these days” have their eyes wide open. Just a few decades ago you used to have access to an affordable college education with good jobs on graduation. With a modest level of saving you’d have enough for the deposit on a house within a few years.

None of that is true now. It’s drilled into high school kids that they must take on a punishingly expensive college education or they’ll never amount to anything. Then when they graduate they discover an awful jobs market. As for buying a house... better wait for a relative to die and hope they were generous to you in the will because there’s no other way you’re ever going to make that deposit.

The idea that young people today and spoiled and rely on handouts is a nonsensical meme.

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> “Kids these days” have their eyes wide open. Just a few decades ago you used to have access to an affordable college education with good jobs on graduation. With a modest level of saving you’d have enough for the deposit on a house within a few years.

Except if those kids would get degrees in the right areas (like the thread is complaining they aren't), they would absolutely be able to get excellent jobs upon graduation. The unemployment rate in engineering has been almost nil for years. Even fields like civil and biomedical engineering, previously at the bottom of engineering in terms of prospects and pay, are now a lock for jobs, with employers desperate to hire anyone they can get. And of course computer science is now doing even better than all of them despite being much easier, frankly.

Further, GP notes

> "they must take on a punishingly expensive college education or they’ll never amount to anything."

Except that high school graduates have the option to do 2 years of community college (~5k) and 2 years at a state school (~13k). Generally possible to most while living at home for no additional rent. CS jobs are in high supply and 100k+ out of college. The college cost would be paid off in a year.

Then there's the fact that many positions are not requiring a college education at all.

> Then there's the fact that many positions are not requiring a college education at all.

Tell that to companies who still are filtering applicants based on their college education.

Of course there are. There are still many companies that aren't and software engineers are still in very high demand.

> 100k+ out of college

Isn't this only true in a few select cities?

I don't think the average programmer is getting paid that (the AU equivalent) much here in Australia outside of maybe some companies in Melbourne and Sydney and maybe Adelaide.

The article and thread was talking about the US, which has the highest software salaries worldwide and where I was referring to for the 100k+ compensation.

While I don't know too much about the Australian market, positions all across the US are 100k+ entry level. Not just in a few select cities, but probably in almost every state. Like Nebraska, Texas, and Tennessee with median house prices just 2x that entry level compensation.[0][1][2]

[0]https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Software+Engineer+$100,000&l=O...

[1]https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Software+Engineer+$100,000&l=T...

[2]https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=Software+Engineer+$100,000&l=T...

Not everyone can be an engineer (IQ aside, there literally isn't enough jobs like that), but everyone needs a house. How do you square that circle?

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