Minimum wage
#31
Re: Minimum wage
In my experience in the Silicon Valley, a person's educational background has not been the determining factor as to who is productive for software engineering unless the employee is going to develop new low level protocols, encryption, structural analysis, physics/nuclear analysis, heavy mathematical calculations, etc. Over 90% of the software engineering jobs don't require that knowledge even if the project is about those capabilities. For example, I wrote a VPN application which required encryption and changes to the protocol on the router and all I needed to do was understand the interface to call the already developed encryption module and understand the basic protocol of routing to make those changes. The encryption and protocol implementation was less than 1% of the total project and was actually one of the easier tasks in the project.
I suspect many managers are biased since they may have a post graduate degree and expect their employees to have the same.
With my educational background, I wouldn't attempt to define and develop new encryption algorithms or define and develop a new protocol such as a faster WI-FI, Bluetooth, USB, SATA, Internet backbone, or 4G protocol. For that, someone should have post graduate degrees with emphasis in those fields. On the other hand, most of the work in software engineering is logically thinking how to implement the project and writing the code without the need for in depth knowledge in any field since an already designed and developed application program interface (API) is available to perform any of the above.
I suspect many managers are biased since they may have a post graduate degree and expect their employees to have the same.
With my educational background, I wouldn't attempt to define and develop new encryption algorithms or define and develop a new protocol such as a faster WI-FI, Bluetooth, USB, SATA, Internet backbone, or 4G protocol. For that, someone should have post graduate degrees with emphasis in those fields. On the other hand, most of the work in software engineering is logically thinking how to implement the project and writing the code without the need for in depth knowledge in any field since an already designed and developed application program interface (API) is available to perform any of the above.
Last edited by Michael; Jul 6th 2014 at 12:19 am.
#32
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,570
Re: Minimum wage
So if you can't afford kids then don't have them
Last edited by Uncle_Bob; Jul 6th 2014 at 2:34 am.
#33
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,570
Re: Minimum wage
Embedded Software Engineer is the real software real job.
#34
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: Minimum wage
I was expecting more IT jobs to be outsourced than seems to have been the case. I know from experience years ago there are issues but nothing that could not be got over.
As far as children, earnings, benefits, child care etc, then for many people you need to look at the totality of the package, wage is just one element of it.
As far as children, earnings, benefits, child care etc, then for many people you need to look at the totality of the package, wage is just one element of it.
#36
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: Minimum wage
I would like to think so, I was more commenting on the nature of means, just limiting it to waged income.
#37
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 0
Re: Minimum wage
Until there is a birth control method that is 100% effective, there will always be people having kids who can't afford them.
If in the low income bracket, you probably cannot afford the medical procedure for a permanent fix, but who is to say someone at 25 who can't afford a kid, wont be able to at 40, so even the permanent fixes are not really viable.
A low min. wage probably ends up costing society more in the long run via more people on various assistance programs.
If in the low income bracket, you probably cannot afford the medical procedure for a permanent fix, but who is to say someone at 25 who can't afford a kid, wont be able to at 40, so even the permanent fixes are not really viable.
A low min. wage probably ends up costing society more in the long run via more people on various assistance programs.
#38
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: Minimum wage
Until there is a birth control method that is 100% effective, there will always be people having kids who can't afford them.
If in the low income bracket, you probably cannot afford the medical procedure for a permanent fix, but who is to say someone at 25 who can't afford a kid, wont be able to at 40, so even the permanent fixes are not really viable.
A low min. wage probably ends up costing society more in the long run via more people on various assistance programs.
If in the low income bracket, you probably cannot afford the medical procedure for a permanent fix, but who is to say someone at 25 who can't afford a kid, wont be able to at 40, so even the permanent fixes are not really viable.
A low min. wage probably ends up costing society more in the long run via more people on various assistance programs.
#39
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 0
Re: Minimum wage
Probably very few, its just not a viable option, and since other forms of birth control are not 100% effective, there will always be the oops babies where people did their best to prevent a baby, but a baby still happened.
#41
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: Minimum wage
Also most people would eventually like to have a family, with the current situation where social mobility is restricted, they are effectively being told to slog away on minimum wage forever without being able to afford that.
#43
Re: Minimum wage
One of the most complicated projects was putting two different operating systems together that were written in two different languages. All you have to do is understand how each of the two different operating systems work and after that, write about 100,000 lines of code that is bullet proof. Another relatively complicated project was changing an operating system that worked with linear memory (8006) to segmented memory (80286) to allow for expanded memory addressing. I even worked on one of the 1st implementations of cloud computing (wasn't called that at the time) but hardware and communications was so slow that it wasn't useful.
When I worked on the VPN project, an Indian on a H1-B visa with a master degree specializing in encryption was supposed to develop about 1,000 lines of code to interface to the encryption API but he mucked everything up so badly that I took over his code when he went on vacation, doubled the size to add desired features, and fixed all the problems. There was no need for someone with a master's degree specializing in encryption for that code. He may have understood encryption but he had extremely limited coding and trouble shooting abilities. To assume that someone with a specialized education will be productive is more often the opposite of what I've seen.
I wouldn't consider a median income of $120K-$130K plus stock options plus bonus in the Silicon Valley is low wage. 15 years ago, I retired with a base salary of $150K and I wasn't even a manager since I thought management jobs sucked (at one time I was a manager and it did suck).
Last edited by Michael; Jul 6th 2014 at 8:25 am.
#44
Re: Minimum wage
Restricted to those who have an aversion to hard work, This is still the land of Opportunity , there is plenty of work out there and our economy is showing it. So big woop Prince & Princess have to work 40 + hours to make ends meet, educate yourselves to a higher position and salary or learn a new trade. Otherwise shut the hell up, you are a worker Bee, nothing wrong with being a worker Bee BTW. Nobody owes you a damn thing except your Mother & Father who chose to bring you into this world. If you want more out of life, bust a nut and make it happen, do not count on me as Joe Taxpayer to fund your lifestyle.
The world is what we make of it, the sooner we teach our Kids this lesson a better world we shall live in.
The world is what we make of it, the sooner we teach our Kids this lesson a better world we shall live in.
#45
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: Minimum wage
Restricted to those who have an aversion to hard work, This is still the land of Opportunity , there is plenty of work out there and our economy is showing it. So big woop Prince & Princess have to work 40 + hours to make ends meet, educate yourselves to a higher position and salary or learn a new trade. Otherwise shut the hell up, you are a worker Bee, nothing wrong with being a worker Bee BTW. Nobody owes you a damn thing except your Mother & Father who chose to bring you into this world. If you want more out of life, bust a nut and make it happen, do not count on me as Joe Taxpayer to fund your lifestyle.
The world is what we make of it, the sooner we teach our Kids this lesson a better world we shall live in.
The world is what we make of it, the sooner we teach our Kids this lesson a better world we shall live in.