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Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration (www.businessinsider.com)
submitted 3 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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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.

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[–] 93 points 3 years ago (7 children)

Meanwhile software devs? We sit around in a comfy meeting room sipping coffee and are occasionally a bit stressed. Sure there's exceptions, but most devs I know have it pretty good while making a shit ton of money

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  • [–] 80 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    And I will add that you also deserve to be well paid and have your own stressors and those matter too. We all deserve a good wage. What's the point otherwise?

    But I'm especially glad because delivery drivers are often treated poorly.

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  • [–] 29 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    Also make sure you add the amount of schooling, training, and certifications that you as a Tech industry worker are expected to shell out for to get ahead, gone are the years where a high school diploma and some skills gets you in the door in Tech. Also the hours we need to put in.

    So sure it's not as physically demanding as delivery driving, but it is absolutely mentally demanding and time consuming. Most things in tech are also things the average person isn't interested in learning, so it's not like a delivery driver can go and code or engineer some kind of solution for complex IT problems or environments, but a developer/IT worker can absolutely get out there and deliver packages if they had to for some reason.

    Either way, good on the UPS folks, now it's time to take that and leverage it across the board for all of the other career paths.

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  • [–] -3 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    Your response implies that tech workers are mentally more fit than those who work for UPS. This is flatly untrue, if tech workers are so damn smart, why don't we unionize? We would make a ton more money, have better work life balance, and job security! It's the same story for every industry, unions are the antidote to capitalism death cult.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago*

    I think they were more so arguing about the costs of the training itself. Those loans aren't free for a lot of people, and scholarships aren't unlimited.

    A lot of people don't have time to work while they're in school, so those loans can also take on a pretty nasty interest rate.

    I'm of the mindset that people who work hard deserve good money. If a job is something that most people can't or won't do, companies will usually have to pay more to encourage people to stay and do those jobs. Otherwise, why would people go into debt for schooling and training? Why go through the stress and expenses for no reason? Yes there's passion for some people, but that doesn't pay tuition lol

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  • [–] 27 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    This is in no way to undermine the argument that UPS drivers deserve every penny they get paid. I am regularly very stressed out by my current client. Consulting can be an absolute bitch.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 years ago

    While my job can be stressful, I switched from contracting to a ft job with a single employer well over a decade ago and never looked back. Have I earned less money over those however many years? Oh, yes. But I work regular days, rarely get hassled, know the system inside and out, and really like my coworkers who are mostly people who have also been there for a very long time.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago

    Damn, I must have had the wrong dev job. Did one for 13 years where i had to wear flame retardant clothes, drive up mountains in the winter and sit out in the desert in the summer, annual training as a first responder. But I did sip a lot of coffee and have a lot of stress.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago*

    Well the one thing that pandemic has taught us is that people are never satisfied no matter how much they get. Before the pandemic, nobody gave a flying shit in the tech world, specifically the devs, about work from home or hybrid work nature. But somehow now they are entitled to it. Still the tech giants obliged and are allowing them to work from home. Now they are pissed that someone who works physically and deliver items to their door steps is earning as much as they are while they sit on their fat asses watching a screen. Sure they have other deadlines and stuff which the drivers won’t have to face, but don’t be so fucking greedy and jealous when someone is getting paid for their hard work.

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