cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2936916
Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration::Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay — others jumped in to note the importance of the jobs and harsh working conditions.
Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay
Always tearing each other and ourselves down instead of wondering whether the billionaires deserve so much.
I don’t know who some of these tech workers think they are to have the audacity to think they have a say in what someone else “deserves”.
Great, good for them. Tech workers who are unhappy are welcome to switch career I guess.
Yeah. I’ve said it enough times in Tech - “Anyone jealous of my staff is welcome to come interview. We’re often hiring.”
I’m glad to see a difficult and important job get some fair pay. Good for them, and good for all of us.
This is dumb. Are these angry tech workers less able to feed, clothe and house themselves and their families? It’s like the crabs in a bucket thing but these crabs already climbed out and are sad to see others making it over the rim.
Now just imagine how much us techbros could make in engineering if we unionized.
I’m not a tech worker. I have only heard stories told by the ones that quit.
I cannot even imagine how quickly entire systems would come crashing down to the tune of billions of dollars if tech workers ever decided to strike.
The amount of leverage organized tech workers could have is mind boggling.
Its not like the companies can just replace them with cheap labor. Tech requires skills that are built over years of dedication. These companies wouldn’t even be able to get foreigners to replace the tech workers because 1) language barrier, 2) culture barrier, 3) legal barrier (taxes, labor laws, etc), 4) immigration barrier, 5) time to onboard and learn the codebase. Then it would inevitable lead to unmaintainable code because these companies will want the work to be done yesterday and see no value in maintainable code.
These companies wouldn’t even be able to get foreigners to replace the tech workers
Oh, but boy have they tried.
Tech worker here making less than a UPS driver. Good for them, a rising tide lifts all boats.
👏 unionize 👏 yesterday 👏 techbros 👏
You can get all that and even more if you pressure your libertarian peers to nut up or shut up
Not sure if I read it right, but this was based on one comment? To me this just sounds like they’re trying to pit tech workers against ups drivers.
There’s no way in hell I’d want to deliver packages in this heat. Mad respect to UPS workers, they deserve every dollar of it.
To get a base salary of $170k you know you need to work hard as an Engineer, this sucks.
LOL - this motherfucker talkin about hard work. You actually think sitting in an office for 8 hours a day is working harder than the guy delivering packages? GTFO with that shit.
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Bro. I’m an engineer. Have been for more than 20 years. This guy, talking about how his job is harder than someone who delivers packages for 10 hours a day is fucking lying. Either that, or he’s completely divorced from reality.
Yes, you need more schooling, and yes, solving puzzles all day is mentally draining. But you know what? I’ll take being mentally drained over having my body completely fall apart by 50 because of the toll my job took on it. Being an engineer is in no way harder than any blue collar job I’ve ever seen.
Edit: And also, if you’re mentally exhausted after reading for 10 minutes… that’s not normal. Have you been tested for things like dyslexia? Could be that you have some kind of processing disorder that makes it difficult to read.
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Yes, I got diagnosed with ADHD as a child, but I don’t get why you would think that’s necessary to comment on.
I wasn’t commenting on your ADHD. I was commenting on the fact that you said “Try sitting still and reading a book for more than 10 minutes, and you will find that it can be exhausting to do.”, and pointing out that being exhausted after reading for 10 minutes is not normal. If you meant to imply that activities that are purely mentally focused can be draining, well, I agree. But you didn’t do a very good job of conveying that with the sentence you chose, so your meaning wasn’t clear to me.
I don’t think it’s fair to compare states in 50 years like this without mentioning the time lost from school and research + the better overall life quality that comes with more money.
Why not? All work is trading parts of yourself in exchange for money. Sometimes, that part of yourself is your mental focus, sometimes your physical health. I am well aware that people in STEM-type jobs have an increased incidence of depression and burnout. Hell, I stopped working for 5 years because I was depressed and burnt out.
But you know what? I was able to stop working for that long because I made a really good salary before leaving the workforce. And what I did was in no way more difficult than someone loading boxes into trucks in a hot warehouse, or remaining focused on traffic conditions for several hours per day then interspersing that with delivering those same packages to people’s homes and offices.
So, my job wasn’t harder, but it paid better. My back isn’t sore, but my mental health took a toll. The reality is, everybody suffers. And even if the UPS delivery guy got paid twice what I made, I still wouldn’t pick that job because my chosen field is easier and still pays pretty well.
So I’m not stressed in the slightest that they potentially got a bump (it still has to pass a vote). Good for them. They deserve it.
Tldr, seems like you have too much time on your hands. Maybe you could take up a side gig
And how did you come to that conclusion?
I sat and read for 8 hours yesterday. It was my day off.
The only appropriate reaction is to congratulate them on their success and continuing fighting until EVERY worker is receiving not just a livable wage, but a thriving wage. Anything less than full-throated support for across the board pay raises is class treason.