| There’s never been a better time to be a developer.
Let’s take the internet wayback machine before the dotbomb days.
Companies provided the hardware and software to work on. Required travel was reimbursed. You had your own work area and it was for working in. Productivity was measured in new features and bug fixes. Bonuses were plentiful. Salaries were good (100K/yr with about 5 years experience and a high level security clearance).
Today, companies expect you to provide your own hardware and software. Travel isn’t reimbursed. Work areas double as company storage areas. You often have to time-share a cube. Productivity is measured by the number of lines of code produced. There are no bonuses and experienced developers get 80K/yr, maybe.
Today is the golden age? Not to people who’ve been doing this for a few years.
I don't think that's quite accurate based on the experiences of my friends from school.
Most people I know from school are making ~$90k with 0-2 years of experience. The highest salary I've heard is my friend who is getting $105k (plus benefits) when he graduates this spring, and the lowest I've heard is about $75k (plus benefits). Granted, all these people went to UC Berkeley, but quite a few of them dropped out/were just auditing (ie not an enrolled student) and most of us didn't have good GPAs (2.0-3.5, with an est. median of probably 2.75 and a stddev of maybe 0.35).
None of my friends have had to provide their own hardware or software, though many have chosen to use their personal laptops as terminals instead of using provided equipment. Everyone at least has their own cubicle (no time sharing), and i believe about half of us got a significant (ie two weeks pay or more) bonus sometime in the last year. None of my friends really travel much for work, but I do know that my company reimburses all travel costs for engineers (for the few that actually need to travel between offices).
And I don't know anyone whose productivity is measured by LoC.
I'm 25, have a few years of experience in this industry, and I don't see any of the things you're describing. I'm working for my 3rd company now, and I've always had hardware provided, my own desk, and since moving to silicon valley have always made over 80k.
I have a friend right now being courted by 3 companies right out of grad school, all of which are offering over 100k, plus bonuses.
I can't say I've ever looked at a job that didn't provide hardware and software, or reimburse travel. That's just standard business behaviors. I don't think my company is /that/ different from most, and I've never seen any of the follow up issues you gripe about(although the salary doesn't sound too far off in the midwest cheap cost of living areas.)
Are things really that bad? My company doesn't suffer from any of those things but you cite them as if they're the norm. Maybe those things are more common in a startup setting?
Also, you can't seriously claim that productivity is routinely measure by number of lines of code. What kind of hell hole have you been working in...?
> Today is the golden age? Not to people who’ve been doing this for a few years.
Things seem to have turned on a dime. Around the subprime mortgage crisis (Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in September 2008) things were looking dire. However around now (December 2011) things are looking much better. Experienced devs in New York / Seattle / Silicon Valley / Los Angeles are making more than you think. I've even heard that devs fresh out of school in Boston can make $140K.
Ouch man, that doesn't sound too good. It's not like that everywhere, sounds like you are stuck in a bad place. Really you might want to look around a bit and considering changing shops. Your post, which I feel great empathy for, hits me like hearing a kind woman say that she is resigned to the fact that all men beat their wives.
| There’s never been a better time to be a developer.
Let’s take the internet wayback machine before the dotbomb days.
Companies provided the hardware and software to work on. Required travel was reimbursed. You had your own work area and it was for working in. Productivity was measured in new features and bug fixes. Bonuses were plentiful. Salaries were good (100K/yr with about 5 years experience and a high level security clearance).
Today, companies expect you to provide your own hardware and software. Travel isn’t reimbursed. Work areas double as company storage areas. You often have to time-share a cube. Productivity is measured by the number of lines of code produced. There are no bonuses and experienced developers get 80K/yr, maybe.
Today is the golden age? Not to people who’ve been doing this for a few years.