I think for many, money isn’t why they became an engineer but it is why they remain one.
this post was submitted on 04 May 2026
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You would have to have an incredible grindset to become a decent engineer without actually enjoying any of it. You could become a shitty one just by passing tests, I guess. (And probably many people do)
My job is also tough and more recently I felt despair because of pressure. But I remind myself that I chose my career because of good pay, which could improve once I leave my shithole company.
If money isn't an issue, I would pick a more relaxed job. There is plenty of snobbery against blue collar jobs, but they are the most relaxed jobs I have ever had.
I think it depends on the type of blue color job and company as well. Some of them, you're basically breaking your body to get some money and it could really hurt you in future.
I think having your own, or working for a small local business is great. Specially if you have a paid off house and aren't struggling otherwise.
I'm different; none of my software projects bring me any money...
Don't tell me employer but it would still work for free. Software engineering is an absolute privilege and I can't relate to this meme at all.
Engineering as a whole is now diluted with a bunch of money-hungry STEM’s who were never even that good at engineering. Their parents probably pushed them into the degree. It’s sad.
diluted with a bunch of money-hungry STEM’s who were never even that good at engineering.
That's all the STEMs now. The actual competent ones are on Wall Street.
Yep. why struggle doing research when you can make 500K a year writing stock trading algorithms.
i had a roommate who was a physics PhD. He quit after 4 years and went to work for a Wall St and his starting salary was 400K, this was 2009, after the crisis. had he completed his PhD he'd have been lucky to make 60K a year and then after decades of work he might have made close to 200K. I would guess today he's probably making well over a million a year.
Yep. why struggle doing research when you can make 500K a year writing stock trading algorithms.
...because research contributes to make a better society for everyone compared to scamming people with overhyped stocks?
But yes, in reality, the trend seems to be finance first, if you can get in.
only a tiny minority of researchers get to do that.
most research is lots of work with poor pay, often to the point where are per hour making less than working at a fast food job.
very few researchers are lucky enough to get rewarding work, and hardly anyone gets to do rewarding work that is well-paid.
and most well-paid research even in industry is working for corporations that are seeking to enrich themselves rather than better society. most pharma research goes towards high profit highly specialized drugs, for example, that will mostly only benefit the small slice of society that can afford them.
god forbid well-off parents want their kids to be financially secure...
It entirely depends on if the parents being well-off allowed their kid to get a degree they aren't really qualified for because they could use money as a crutch.
parents money has nothing to do with if they get a degree... you have to complete the coursework regardless.
colleges will prefer to admit kids who can pay full tuition over kids who need financial assistance... if that is what you are complaining about?
And AI is going to put that into overdrive.
For a little while, I helped with some intern and recent grad interviews and holy shit some people didn't have a clue. Had one guy on a remote interview that had a friend there helping him answer questions. It was obvious because he didn't even mute his mic and we could hear them. And it was extra pathetic because his friend wasn't even feeding him anything useful, like Bevis was helping Butthead with a software engineering interview.
We had a short break and when we resumed, he had at least figured out to mute his mic between questions (not that that helped, as muting yourself frequently when you're one of the main speakers in the meeting alone is a red flag without some reason that should be obvious when it isn't muted). Only resumed because I was fairly new to interviewing, if I got one of those today (and still did interviews), I would have ended it early.
Tell them to bring in the friend, then hire the friend on the spot and when they spin out of control say you were only kidding and end the meeting.
Engineering is just alternating between existential dread and direct deposit therapy.
So I should be a therapist because they are the ones selling the shovels?
That reminds me, I need a raise
Why should you get a raise? You're terrible at your job!
Not a single downvote, and you call yourself a downvote hunter smh
He already killed all the downvotes in his region
Yeah.
downvote_hunter: "Do you SEE any downvotes?"
Ignotum: "No..."
downvote_hunter: "You're WELCOME."
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Where tf did you get that pay lmao, maybe its regional, but I need a raise like that, I'm a BE Dev 2, awaiting performance review for 3 (Senior) and sadly not as close to that as I'd like.
Could be a monthly payment, or a monthly contractor payment (so before subtracting taxes and insurance and whatnot) which would fit for a mid-level role being around 80k/year
If you're not senior yet, thats why. This looks like a senior 2 - principal 1 level salary
Check levels.fyi. 400-500k+ isn't unusual for senior and above positions in US HCOL areas at competitive tech companies. Often this includes RSUs which can have downsides but are usually ok
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I guess I'm getting scammed then.
Or comparing European vs US wages
At least we don't have to deduct 45% of our wages for the eventuality of needing a doctor and also walking 10km with a broken leg to avoid an ambulance ride.
As an American, I take offense to this. We would never use kilometers
In Germany we get deducted around 40% directly, before the money even reaches us q.q Tbf that includes health care as well as taxes already and also we are a smidge farther away from fascism.
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god dam where they getting that
If that's monthly pay, that's at or below average.
If that's bi-weekly......fuck I need to up my engineering game.
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That's not that outrageous as a higher-level IC in a big tech company in a big city. But if you're that senior you're not questioning why you became an engineer.
There's a reason the typical dev career pipeline ends at farmer. People get tired of all the bs and leave never to be seen again.
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Eh, that looks like typical take home for a staff level engineer in a big city.
Edit: Assuming they get paid every two weeks, that’s an annual take home of $161,122. Depending on state taxes, insurance coverage, 401k contributions, dependents, etc, that’s a base salary of $200-250k. Which, yeah, that’s what I budget for a staff salary.
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cries in helpdesk technician
I truly went into the wrong part of tech.
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