Even not too long ago once I learn or watch one thing associated to Twitter I encounter feedback about “Them lazy, overpaid programmers, haha, Elon fired them and the app nonetheless works! These libtars received what they deserved”. In all probability you, the reader, even have encountered these feedback.
They’re extraordinarily problematic and we shouldn’t be silent about them.
Drawback 1: being lazy or exploitation?
There are numerous ranges we will select to work together with that assertion:
Psychological well being
Not working till exhaustion IS wholesome. The burnout tradition is NOT wholesome. We, as a society ought to work in direction of lowering workload and never growing it.
You probably did an important job! Now I now not must exploit 10 individuals, simply exploit you and I can fireplace the 9 others.
What a joke! Be extra productive to have extra free time, so we may give you extra duties.
This isn’t sustainable as excessive productiveness additionally means extraordinarily susceptible “quantum states”. Having free time helps the thoughts replenish its shops, from which we will create these “quantum states”.
Productiveness
In contrast to stacking bins, software program engineering normally appears like a chess occasion: it’s a must to contemplate your strikes, it’s a must to consider what can go mistaken within the close to and within the far future.
In brief: extremely specialised job requiring very explicit psychological states.
You possibly can’t write good code if there’s warfare in your coronary heart (household points, and many others.). You possibly can’t write good code if you happen to’re drained, exhausted, demotivated. You possibly can’t “grind” your thoughts into “omniscient creator” mode by sucking it up.
The one solution to get into the “zone” is to be psychological state.
That is when you find yourself extraordinarily productive. With a pointy, contemporary thoughts and a light-weight coronary heart.
Builders subsequently will require completely different schedules.
Often most of us know precisely from when till when they’re the most efficient, be it from 6am within the morning till 2pm, or from 10am to 6pm. Or possibly two-three distinct instances.
It is less than anybody however the individual to know when they’re essentially the most environment friendly.
Drawback 2: overpaid? Or we underpay different individuals?
On this stage of equality, developer salaries normally permit individuals to reside a middle-class existence of many years in the past:
- they’ll go to trip
- they may be capable of afford their very own condo
BUT
- the second our (psychological) well being declines we’re not padded
- there are not any secret stashes of cash
- you may’t actually afford not working at someplace
- we’re nonetheless staff requiring working rights, security community and public healthcare
And but, we get the hate.
Sufficient is sufficient. It is not us who exploit individuals. It is not us who make well being care unavailable. It is not us who make individuals work lengthy hours. We’re simply staff, solely the pay is extra significant.
In the event that they need to hate any individual, hate the billionaires, hate the paid politicians who foyer towards working rights, elevating mininum wage and so forth.
Not residing in perpetual existential disaster shouldn’t be a hated privilege. It needs to be the norm.
The unsaid downside: set towards one another
We’re a really low cost punching bag, a strawman for points past us. The one actual selection we will make is to discover a higher employer. We will not affect insurance policies, we won’t topple goverments, we’re simply staff who reside from their brains.
Hating us solves nothing.