Unsustainable industry growth?
Right now SWEs are paid highly.. is that sustainable for FAANG? If competition gets tighter and margins get smaller, won't SWE salaries be one of the first costs to be dropped?
Of course not. We are where skilled labor, auto workers, defense contractors etc. used to be. Doesnโt mean it wonโt last decades, but eventually (if you live long enough) new winners emerge.
Half of the compensation is from stocks. If stock not performing well, defined will impact the take home pay. It will happen during recessions.
Yes, and when recession hits, time to buy stocks on sale. Most software devs working last 10 - 15 years are coasting right now anyways.
Software people get paid a lot for three reasons: 1. There arenโt enough of them. 2. They are critical for producing the things companies sell. 3. The incoming numbers is growing slower than the increasing need. Factor in that there is essentially zero marginal cost to making more software. The factors that you describe would make it more important to pay for good software people. On the other hand, a zillion more H1Bs would put downward pressure on salaries
Depends on housing