Computer touching wagies and so socially stunted they’ll never form effective union.
The industry is so niche, the technology is so heavily customized, and the people so idiosyncratic that I think forming a union shouldn’t be that hard. The real dampener is that the pay for these jobs is always far above the median. Five years of experience and you’re reaching towards six figures. Ten years and you’re well over the line. And in Silicon Valley, the sky is the limit. A master’s or phd in your field means you’re looking at $200k, $300k, $400k…
If there’s a big drop in wages (and considering the real estate prices in the neighborhoods where these businesses exist) something’s got to give. Maybe you get unions. Maybe you just get a bunch of businesses collapsing on themselves Twitter-style and forcing people back into the “indie company-in-my-garage” model. Maybe everyone becomes contractors.
Aerospace pay is good, but it used to be a whole lot better. The salaries definitely haven’t kept up with executive pay, even if they’re multiples of the regional average. I’ve got a friend who went into aerospace and bemoans how he’s living solidly middle class in a field that used to put you squarely into the top 5% income bracket. Funny to see someone complain about earning a quarter million a year, but when buying a starter home costs twice that…
The industry is so niche, the technology is so heavily customized, and the people so idiosyncratic that I think forming a union shouldn’t be that hard. The real dampener is that the pay for these jobs is always far above the median. Five years of experience and you’re reaching towards six figures. Ten years and you’re well over the line. And in Silicon Valley, the sky is the limit. A master’s or phd in your field means you’re looking at $200k, $300k, $400k…
If there’s a big drop in wages (and considering the real estate prices in the neighborhoods where these businesses exist) something’s got to give. Maybe you get unions. Maybe you just get a bunch of businesses collapsing on themselves Twitter-style and forcing people back into the “indie company-in-my-garage” model. Maybe everyone becomes contractors.
But this isn’t sustainable in any serious sense.
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Aerospace pay is good, but it used to be a whole lot better. The salaries definitely haven’t kept up with executive pay, even if they’re multiples of the regional average. I’ve got a friend who went into aerospace and bemoans how he’s living solidly middle class in a field that used to put you squarely into the top 5% income bracket. Funny to see someone complain about earning a quarter million a year, but when buying a starter home costs twice that…
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Plenty of slackers in the aerospace industry. Don’t let that hold you back.
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