[Gllug] VACANCY: Site Reliability Engineering

[James Laver]

On Thu, February 19, 2009 1:53 pm, Balbir Thomas wrote:
>
> Peter, I think there is a fallacy in here. Over their ENTIRE career the
> net
> earnings of a skilled professional is not the same as that of a
> semi-skilled
> professional. Something like the difference in time complexity and
> execution time :-). Also for the so motivated, the challenge and joy of
> technically oriented jobs is an additional benefit. For some that may
> be the primary motivator for other it may be secondary to more material
> conditions. For me personally it used to be the primary motivator earlier
> in life but as I have grown older and ..... :-)
>

I think perhaps you missed "10 years". Again, if I wanted to earn a tube
driver's salary, I know where to go. They have a better union, they have a
35 hour work week, they don't have deadlines to meet and they have a final
salary pension. Of those, I've only had the 35 hour work week, so if
salaries are equivalent, guess which job is winning.*

The point is that I'm doing the same job as a contractor that a permanent
staff is doing here. He has to work many hours because of his employment
contract. I doubt he's going to find a job where he earns what he deserves
(he's pretty good at his job) in the next few years. Is it really fair
that he's being paid less than a tube driver and probably will be for the
bulk of his life?

I said to him he should go become a tube driver.

>
> I dare say this is another urban myth. Though I will be interested in that
> data (if it is in a peer reviewed journal).
>

Then why are the stories so common? How is it that a lot of us know of a
pitifully salaried job taken by a PhD because they're having trouble
getting employed?

--James
* "Every boy wants to be a train driver"
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