I'm not saying it's fair!
Those who do the bare minimum to get by in life are only hurting themselves in the long run.
This remains true despite a gloomy macroeconomic outlook.
I can't stand these delusions.
But a lot of people aren't even doing that. They're choosing to pick more lucrative career paths such as pushing JavaScript for cat photo social networks, working on ways to increase engagement for users to see ads, and whatever other ways FAANGs previously propped up by low interest rates, or startups propped up by VC funding, make money.
That work isn't necessarily easier, but it's not semiconductor manufacturing, or rebuilding American infrastructure, or being essential workers during a pandemic, or whatever other important but far less-paying work than consumer software engineering (or say, the financial industry).
If software engineering is such a cushy, desirable, lucrative job, why don't more people do it?
It's easy to forget the thousands of hours it takes to become competent in this field once you've been in it for a while. Most people simply do not care enough to take the time to learn to do it despite being fully capable. It ain't rocket surgery.
Lots of people are, and try, that's why bootcamps and Leetcode prep have been so big for the past decade. More and more people are joining, but also there's a lot of demand so jobs are unfilled.
(You're also completely failing to read when I said "that work isn't necessarily easier".)
My point is that a lot of people gravitate towards those hot industries, definitely more people than those going to lesser-paying industries in say semiconductor manufacturing, which is what TFA is about. My point is your comment about "attitudes exacerbating downward mobility" have nothing to do with why people don't want to work in semiconductor manufacturing.
> My point is your comment about "attitudes exacerbating downward mobility" have nothing to do with why people don't want to work in semiconductor manufacturing.
It has everything to do with why they don't want to do software engineering. I can't tell you how many of my educated peers think it's "lame" or "selling out" to work in a skilled career rather than being a bartender, activist, starving artist, etc.
Thank you for calling me clever, but getting personal in a comment section isn't exactly amenable to discussion. Not to mention, ignoring all of the other points mentioned in the reply. I will accept your compliment, however.
> It has everything to do with why they don't want to do software engineering. I can't tell you how many of my educated peers think it's "lame" or "selling out" to work in a skilled career rather than being a bartender, activist, starving artist, etc.
What does that have to do with them not wanting to work in semiconductor manufacturing, which generally pays less than median software engineering salaries and is less sought-after? Do you actually have any comments germane to the discussion at hand? Are your educated peers actually eschewing well-paid skilled careers, either in software engineering or not, in favor of those other professions you've listed? What other careers are they pursuing instead? Are you attempting to establish a link between them calling those professions '"lame" or "selling out"' and downwards mobility? How old are these peers, and do they actually exist? What is your actual point here?
The fact is that a good deal of workers are struggling to get by while the folks at the top get bonuses equal to more than a few weeks pay. Being realistic, even when hidden under a layer of sarcasm, is preferable lest things not change.