Okay first of, read up on your history. Unions have brought us every fucking gain for workers that people like you take as a given. 8hr work day? Unions. 40hr week? Unions. Abolishment of child labor? Unions. Fairer wages for minority groups? Unions. Unemployment insurance? Unions. Sick leave? Unions. The list really just goes on and on.
Specifically learn about the Taft-Harley act and how it gutted Union power. I agree modern unions aren’t perfect and in many ways have become counter revolutionary, but this doesn’t mean the idea of unions is inherently shit. And with larger and stronger unions, we could very well repeal the Taft-Harley act.
Did you even read my comment? I said companies think they can do this, and then hinted they pay for it by saying the older guy will write better code. Bad code is expensive, and I can almost guarantee the cost of fixing the noobs mistake will be greater than the salary diff between the two engineers.
God I hate this bullshit libertarian attitude engineers seem to get. A great example that being smart in one thing doesn’t mean you’re smart everywhere.
Our industry is in a very strange and weird position for engineers. The demand is much greater than the available talent pool. So companies compete for us. That is the ONLY reason we are paid as well and treated as well as we are. If you think it’s because you’re so fucking smart and good at your job, you are delusional. This situation is not static, it’s changing, and the rich are pushing it hard. Why do you think there’s a culture wide to push people into coding? To drive wages down. Do you not remember Apple and Google got caught colluding about not hiring from each other so engineers can’t negotiate higher wages? Or even looking at software engineering as a whole over the past 20 years, we have already been losing salary and benefits. Even if the salary is relatively stable in that one position, the responsibilities and required knowledge have ballooned so much that it’s effectively a salary reduction.
In a few years the push to code will start affecting the market. There will be a sharp reduction in salary, job stability, and benefits. I wouldn’t be surprised if we all got pushed into contract work so we don’t get benefits at all. This has nothing to with how good, smart, talented, and x-level “rockstar”, you are. You will get fucked as much as the “lazy guy who won’t stay up to date”.
This can only be fought with collective action. Don’t be stupid and reckless because times are good now. We are seen as cost centers by C-suite people and the board. Don’t be delusional and think they really love and respect you for the work you do. You are a necessary evil. The second they can find a way to replace you, they will. It’s happened in many an industry already, and ours is no different. The push to offshore is already massive and has killed off many jobs that used to be in the US. It’s caused booms in Eastern Europe and Asia at the expense of American jobs, high exploitation to those who replaced us, and booming profits for our bosses.