Comment by zelphirkalt | Hacker News Reader

Comment by zelphirkalt | Hacker News Reader

Well, I wouldn't mind getting my wage fixed, if that works both ways, down _and up_, because then I would be guaranteed to never earn less than average for my skill and experience. Assuming, that those things of course factor into the averaging. Person X with experience Y in position Z. However, something tells me, that there is a tendency towards the downwards direction and none towards wage increase.

(Background: In Germany not so many companies pay competitive wages for their software engineers, especially not, once you worked for some years and are no longer a bloody junior. So I calculate it would result in a wage increase for me, since everyone says I am underpaid for my experience.)

Genuine question: What makes you believe that an employer would decide to pay you more when they notice that they're paying you less than other companies would? Why wouldn't they just think "Oh, neat, we got such a bargain!"

That's the reason I wrote, that I wouldn't mind, if (and only if) the upwards direction also happens and why I wrote, that "something tells me" that that wouldn't be the case ; )

If they cannot fill positions or are shedding talent.

What stops senior devs in Germany from remote contracting for foreign companies that pay better?

Not everyone wants to be self-employed is at least one factor.

That's a significant factor here in Taiwan, also.

Not to mention being self-employed here is a lot more complicated and expensive than in most jurisdictions. Things like having to meet strict professional definitions before being allowed to freelance (not usually an issue for engineers, but I know folks who've got into trouble because of the lack of a bachelors degree).

If you're truly underpaid for your experience and location then you should be able to get a new higher paying job easily. And if you can't easily get one well maybe you aren't underpaid.

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