There's a degree of truth in that, but I think it applies for larger companies, especially very profitable ones.

On the smaller side, I've noticed that I can build the same 'thing' for two organizations, A & B. Org A will struggle to get any value from it, and Org B will make a killing from it. From my standpoint, it was approximately the same tech, same effort, often even similar problem space. But some companies are better at extracting value. You able to take software X and get $3M in sales from it? You'll have no problem paying me $150k. Someone else with same software X struggling to operate their company to make a profit... they won't be able to pay anything.

This idea that someone is 'worth', say, $300k/year because of their skills or experience just doesn't seem all that productive. Or... perhaps what I've been hearing is people conflating what they 'should' get in the marketplace because of past experiences. Finding the companies and industries that can extract value from what you provide isn't always easy.

Not a FAANG engineer but the whole idea of “worth” is a two sided affair and very subjective. You can decide your own worth and the other side can decide what they think you are worth. Neither side needs to be correct, but that’s how economies are structured.

It’s totally fine to demand more for yourself because the companies will always try to pay you less. Are all engineers at banks less skilled than all engineers at say Facebook? Definitely not. But does that mean engineers at Facebook are worth less? Again, definitely not. It’s the engineers at banks who need to demand more.

Personally as a non FAANG engineer I have my minimum for what I will work for. And I would rather be unemployed and do something of your own than work for less.

You are worth what the market will bear. That includes timing and luck.

Honestly after living under the pervasive narrative that you're a failure of a software developer unless you work for either a FAANG or a unicorn SV startup, I'm not sad to see arrogant FAANG developers get cut down to size a little and learn they're not actually God's gifts to the discipline. For over a decade, it's been automatically assumed that everyone else was a failure who just "couldn't cut it" at a FAANG.

> Wages aren't tied to worth

Of course they are. Nothing in the history of humanity has ever been more clearly tied to "this number means how much worth you have as a human being" as income in the United States does today; a close 2nd being the number of serfs you had in medieval France. There's literally an income below which people will cheer for you dying in the streets if you get sick. Yes, they cheer. They cheered when Ron Paul suggested letting poor people die in the streets when they get sick. Being poor is becoming illegal. They'll throw you in jail for it. They add spikes to the sides of highways to make life even more miserable for the homeless. Of course your income is tied to your worth as a human being. What world are you living in?

> Of course they are. Nothing in the history of humanity has ever been more clearly tied to "this number means how much worth you have as a human being" as income in the United States does today

We're talking about different things here. Worth as in 'how much value you add to the company/industry ie are you worth paying this much' (which is what we're talking about here) != worth as in 'how American society sees you based on your income and what privileges you have because you're making money'. I agree with your assessment of worth wrt to American society. That is my perception as well.

> I'm not sad to see arrogant FAANG developers get cut down to size a little and learn they're not actually God's gifts to the discipline. For over a decade, it's been automatically assumed that everyone else was a failure who just "couldn't cut it" at a FAANG.

Everyone is responsible for their own assumptions; I don't share the same thoughts as you. Not everyone who got laid off is an arrogant FAANG developer and not everyone working at FAANG thinks they're God's gift to the craft (honestly, anecdotally, I have never seen more instances of imposter syndrome than in FAANG). Do you by any chance frequent the Blind forums?

In the end, I would remind everyone that wage workers hating each other because of how much they make is a God send for the people who actually own the economy. It's non-productive and mistargeted. You need to hate your boss/company if you're not happy with how much you make.

> I'm not sad to see arrogant FAANG developers get cut down to size a little and learn they're not actually God's gifts to the discipline.

Where do you come to the conclusion that FAANG developers are like this?

> For over a decade, it's been automatically assumed that everyone else was a failure who just "couldn't cut it" at a FAANG.

Assumed by who?

The amount of judgment coming from your comment is rather shocking. I'll just say that it definitely doesn't reflect the perspectives of tech workers I know.

I'm sorry that you seem to find yourself in a circle that you have come to those conclusions.

Take a look around this website, for starters.

A large portion of this community has had resentment towards FAANG and FAANG engineers for a long time. Whiteboard interviews, high pay, not invented here syndrome, memes about coasting in big co, stereotyping people based off which FAANG they came off of, trivializing the work, saying it’s detrimental to a new engineer’s career to join FAANG etc.

All of this is fine. But let’s be real, part of the community resents another part and has for a while. It is part of some people’s identity to hate on FAANG engineers. And they let you know.