It’s a great time to be a programmer in the UK | Hacker News Reader

It’s a great time to be a programmer in the UK

cvmountain.com

27 pointsKiwiCoder17 comments

It's a great time to be a good programmer in a language that is popular. Otherwise things aren't so great.

Which languages are you talking about?

If the UK is anything like NZ, it is a great time to be a .Net developer. Unfortunately if you like working in a unix environment with languages more prevalent in OSS, finding work can be difficult.

If you are a good programmer you should be able to learn at least one such language (there are several that are popular enough to offer plenty of jobs).

It's great to be a programmer

If you are a programmer in the UK, you already know it's a good time...

Given that I have a well-paying job, (and have had other offers) when people that I know who work in other fields have been out of work for a while; yes. Yes, I know it. I am fortunate.

Not the case for everyone. I'm quite poorly paid (almost NMW).

ICT != Programming

Yeah, the ONS should have a category for the industry of programmers.

As far as I know, ICT is a superset.

Thus it is also a great time to be a data inputter, typist, sysadmin, support technician, office worker, etc.

Since we have statistics only for the broad category that is ICT, we can't infer anything in isolation about the professions that fall under its umbrella.

Of course, that there's not enough supply of labour to meet demand is only a good thing for those of us already in the industry, and those looking for a way in.

However in these types of stats programming tends to go under ICT.

Just curious, what is considered a well paying programming job in UK?

Last time I looked it seemed programmers who were being paid reasonably well were the ones working in City ( I am thinking 60k plus). Otherwise, other programming jobs were offering 25k-40k at most, which seemed rather low considering cost of living.

Deceptively hard to answer. * Cost of living varies a lot. * London is kind of a country in its own right. * Commuting in the UK can be £5k or more.

If you compare to the national average salary for full-time employees (which is around £32k) then most programmers are well paid.

See also http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8151355.stm "What is a big salary"

For a startup in London an intermediate level developer can make around £30-£50k, more senior developers can earn more.

In sectors like consultancy and finance salaries can go into the £70-£100k range.

And there a bunch of sectors like gaming which fall in between the two ranges.

It's a great time to be a programmer...anywhere.

Except Iran.

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