Hacker News Reader

Comment by walru | Hacker News Reader

If officers who put their life on the line in the most populated/congested city for 150k are overpaid, then I'd like to talk to some software developers in San Francisco.

View on HN

Being a police officer is less dangerous than being a house painter, convenience store clerk, taxi driver, or any of a multitude of jobs in which you are not given a stick and a gun and encouraged to use them freely.

Being a cop in NYC is statistically not very dangerous. Sanitation workers also put their lives on the line. And have more deaths.

Probably more dangerous than the software developers.

Given that nearly half of work-related casualties police officers experience come down to things like heart attacks on the job, I'd be interested in seeing the statistics. Sitting in front of a computer cannot be good for long-term heart health.

Either way, it's more dangerous to be a pizza delivery boy than it is to be a cop.

Yes, because there are thousands of people who'd happily take their job at 60k and are just as qualified to do so.

And live in NYC? That's poverty level.

No it's not, there are millions of people living in NYC on half of that and they are supporting on average 2.67 people with that much money. Just because you cannot afford lower manhattan market rate real estate doesn't mean that you live in poverty.

I really wish people would stop abusing the word "poverty" until it has no meaning.

$60k is not poverty in New York City. I know many families who live there, 100% of them make under $60k/family/year.

Probably renting outside of Manhattan. In Jersey. And commuting for 2-3 hours per day. That might not be poverty but it is suffering.

Stop.

No they don't live in Jersey, otherwise I would have said so. The demographics show is not remotely unusual.

For what most programmers do, you're absolutely correct that their are plenty of people qualified to take their job for much less money.

Except that's not true as it stands right now, because if it were, companies would pay that amount since the private sector relies on markets to make decisions in a way the public sector often doesn't.

Have you ever seen an MTA job fair, thousands of people are fighting for jobs that are considered low skill when you start where they train you on the rest. They should lower wages until that line dies down and to maximize hiring with the same budget.

VCs have distorted the market for programmer salaries to the point that they are artificially 2x-3x what they should be in the absence of VC funding. When that bubble bursts, programming is going to return to its historic means, especially when most businesses start calculating the actual costs and benefits of the software they use/need. Until then, enjoy the party while it lasts.

I have to still disagree here, top tech companies have massive profit margins and could easily pay their employees far more than they do now. It's all about how much you prioritize talent, this said I would expect a deflation of new grad salaries with an increase in senior/principal salaries over the long run as is comparable with other human capital intensive industries like banking and consulting.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com