> I sometimes seriously wonder if you born around the 1960s, how didn't you become a millionaire?
> wages were higher
Depends, of course, but for engineering jobs wages are way higher today.
I wasn't around in the 60s but my father was making less than $10K (as a professional with a PhD). That's about $80K today according to https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
I can easily make twice that anywhere (without a PhD) and 3x-5x that if I shop around for best paying jobs.
No need to go back to the 60s though. In the 90s, $30K-$40K was a very nice starting salary for a software engineer. That's 52K-70K today. But entry level jobs today are paying far over 100K. I just hired a new grad last year for ~150K.
So salaries are certainly much, much higher today.
I'm always shocked every time that I read numbers like these. I'm from the EU. I don't know a single company that could afford to pay a single entry level job €100K or more. Realistic numbers for entry level positions are in the neighborhood of €20K. How can a company from EU hire anybody from the US?
They can’t. I’m shocked when I receive job solicitation from EU based companies. I got one from a Spanish company last year where the non-inflation adjusted salary was worse than my first year salary in a non-expensive locale 20 years ago.
I’d have chalked it up to just spam except the inquiry included recent conference talks & job history that wasn’t linked in simple ways.
Could have been a bot but one that did really interesting connection analysis but not basic salary survey linkage.
My only explanation for this is that you can buy a lot less with a dollar than a euro.
Just out of curiosity, inside what range of money was the offer? Around 20K, 30K, maybe more?
This isn’t the norm though. Are you in a tech-center? BLS numbers show the average median mid-career salary for software is $110k. Starting salary is slightly below $70k based on university data that aligns with government data for median salaries.
When I see these comments I wonder how much it’s skewed by the SV peer group on HN
> This isn’t the norm though. Are you in a tech-center?
I'm in silicon valley, so, yes.
But one doesn't have to be here to get hired here. The recent grad I mentioned wasn't anywhere near California when hired. It does need a willingness to move (although moves are on hold for now, of course).
Agreed, but maybe I missed your intent. My point is not whether it’s possible, but rather if it makes sense as a generalized statement. Given how much SV wages diverge from the national average, I don’t think the latter claim can be applied.
I remember precisely when engineers started getting paid for the first time. 1999. Warning. It’s lifetime expectation of earnings, not instantaneous earnings, and when changes devalue your skills, you’ll be in denial.
> wages were higher
Depends, of course, but for engineering jobs wages are way higher today.
I wasn't around in the 60s but my father was making less than $10K (as a professional with a PhD). That's about $80K today according to https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
I can easily make twice that anywhere (without a PhD) and 3x-5x that if I shop around for best paying jobs.
No need to go back to the 60s though. In the 90s, $30K-$40K was a very nice starting salary for a software engineer. That's 52K-70K today. But entry level jobs today are paying far over 100K. I just hired a new grad last year for ~150K.
So salaries are certainly much, much higher today.