A few months back I was talking with Jason Grundy from Treetop Tech about how the software development industry is constantly changing and there is always something new to learn. He responded that was the reason this is the best industry to be in. I, of course, agree.
Well, now Money Magazine agrees with us and has announced to the world what we all already knew. They surveyed 166 jobs based on income, stress, creativity, barriers to entry and a number of other factors. The choose Software Engineer as the Best Job in America.
They rated it as a B for stress, B for flexibility (citing telecommuting as a great plus), A for creativity and C for ease of entry. They estimate a 10 year growth of 46% (making it second highest, right behind physician's assistant), with an average of 44,800 annual job openings. Average salary? $80,500.
They acknowledge that working for a large company was one of the uncool aspects. Also outsourcing is a concern, as well as avoiding eye, back, wrist and hand strain/problems.
So, beyond making us all feel good about our jobs, what will the implications of this be? I suspect we will see a large influx of people wanting to be Software Engineers again. Hopefully they are right about the growth rate, and offshoring doesn't become a larger threat, or we might be looking at too many software engineers and not enough jobs again.
Subject Tags: [Programming] [Software] [Engineer] [Software Engineer] [Jobs] [Career] [Income] [Money] [Outsourcing] [Offshoring] [Survey]
1 comment:
I've twice heard reports on NPR to the effect of we're graduating fewer people in computer-related fields than in years past. This baffles me, since I agree with the article's rating for this career.
All I can think of to explain the lack of interest among college students is that programming (along with math and science) is somehow uncool. If this trend continues, it will serve us right when China or India takes our place as tech-leader 20-30 years from now.
Post a Comment