You will be surprised how much good plumbers make in the USA. You probably used a bad example.
Source: I know my trusted plumber makes well over six figures a year and he cannot take all calls. I asked him once if he has problems generating leads and he smiled saying "I have too much business that I turn people away". He is a "master plumber" which these days is not easy to get certified for in many states. He told me he cannot find enough skilled master plumbers to help him (state of NJ).
This is always the same logic, where a plumber makes a ton of money. The reality is that your trusted plumber is actually a business owner. If you start out as a plumber, you need a ton of work to get to this spot by working for someone else for a bad wage. Meanwhile as a dev, I can comfortably work for someone else and don't have all the risk.
You might need to define a “bad” wage. According to BLS, the median wage for a plumber is slightly above the median wage in the US as a whole.
I do think some of the inflated values of some jobs is they are somewhat opaque, while the stuff of jobs like plumbing is easier to at least conceptualize, even if the work itself still requires skill and care. It’s easier for a BS job to inflate its importance if people don’t know exactly how it works.
The thing is that top-end software engineers in a FAANG company (the equivalent of a master-plumber / master-electriction / etc.) are either pushing towards 7 figures or have already got there - in total comp, not in wages, but still.
I'm an ICT5 at Apple (not the best-paying, but hey, less layoffs) and I reported ~$750k last year. There are ICT levels going up to 9...
Wow, I feel like you must have a pretty unique specialization because you are doing incredibly well for ICT5 (Congrats!) There are ICT levels above 6 but I feel like in practice those are very rare and you could easily spend decades working and not make it above ICT6 in many divisions.
You will be surprised how much good software engineers make in the USA -- still many multiples of most successful plumbers, and without the long-term physical consequences of that type of labor. Yes, there's still going to be better examples to highlight the disparity.
As a software engineer myself, I am not disputing that. All I am saying is that GP to whom I initially replied was using the comparison with plumbers that they make shit money and that is not the case necessarily in the United States. I am not delusional to think that plumbers can beat FAANG income unless they are running an entire business/company with employees.
Maybe? Anecdotal I guess, but I've met more plumbers with chronic knee and back problems than software engineers. But being a plumber in the US isn't too physically demanding, and makes OK money, so it's probably the example of disparity the GP was trying to highlight.
A software programmer will be front of a computer screen, 8 hours, 5 days a week in a sedentary position - they are at risk for problems of eyes, back & neck problems, carpal tunnel, weight gain, anxiety, heart disease, insomnia, deep vein thrombosis just top of my head.
They technically have the option of a chording keyboard/mouse and a wearable computer. Or at the very least a standing desk (or even a treadmill desk). Along with special glasses or monitor filters.
Yes in the way that someone with a multi-million dollar trust fund who wants to buy a nicer car or bigger house and someone working for minimum wage both have money problems.
Especially when working from home any health-related dangers around software development can be all but completely eliminated. This isn't even remotely comparable to any of the health or occupational risks in the trades.
Master plumbers are still plumbers, they still get down and get their hands dirty. My guy is also a master plumber, and often works alone. When he does have help, he's often doing the hardest work, the other guy is just handing him pipes and tools.
Source: I know my trusted plumber makes well over six figures a year and he cannot take all calls. I asked him once if he has problems generating leads and he smiled saying "I have too much business that I turn people away". He is a "master plumber" which these days is not easy to get certified for in many states. He told me he cannot find enough skilled master plumbers to help him (state of NJ).