Slashdot Mirror
Independent Programmers' No-Win Scenario
snydeq writes "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister writes about the no-win scenario facing today's independent programmers: 'In a knowledge economy, programmers rank among our most valuable workers, yet the current legal and regulatory climate makes a career as an independent software developer virtually a dead-end prospect.' Section 1706 of the 1986 Tax Reform Act, the hurdles and costs of obtaining health care for one's own family, a hostile legal climate in search of accountability for any defects in code — these harsh realities make it 'easy to see why software developers would give up on entrepreneurship. For many, the risks simply don't match the potential rewards. Better to keep their heads down, not rock the boat, and hope they can hang onto their jobs until retirement.' Great news for big software vendors, which will be 'ensured an endless supply of programmers desperate for the safe haven of a steady paycheck, predictable taxation, health benefits, and a shield from civil prosecution when their code turns up buggy. But where will the next Microsoft come from? A field that discourages self-reliance sends the message that the status quo is the highest goal.'"
its much better to work for some huge soulless corporate pig where everything you create is owned by the pig and all you get is a measly salary and the pig gets richer and fatter while you wonder if you have enough to retire on at 65
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
This article is more than 10 years late... is this just because the dude crashed his plane into the IRS building?
Most programmers/IT people have long gotten around this by having multiple contracts and/or multiple employees. It's not really all that hard, and if your independent company only has one contract and one employee you're basically already working for them.
This does not in *any way* discourage the next Microsoft. Or the next Google or Facebook, BTW... obviously, since both came up after this law ;)
An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
The corporations use bribes to buy politicians. The politicians write the laws the corporations wants. And the laws the corporations want are protective laws which discourage indepdent businesses (programmers or otherwise).
It doesn't matter whether we're talling about RIAA, Hollywood, Comcast, or Microsoft. It's all the same operating procedure.
Corporations should have their free speech rights taken away (lobbyists/bribes).
They have no more rights than a Tree or a rock.
They are not THINGS not people.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Build it once, and get paid forever.
You're more optimistic than I am. I read that and think, 'build it once, and support it forever.'
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But where will the next Microsoft come from?
Nowhere, hopefully.
In all seriousness, this is typical of the point of view that only large, publicly-owned companies matter and that consumers are just a resource to be harvested by investors in the stock market. Personally, I care a lot less about where the next near-monopoly comes from than where the next generation of quality software comes from. And since it's generally not coming from the existing large corporations, TFA is at least correct in saying that the disincentives to independent development are a bad thing. But this is primarily a bad thing for consumers; there are always plenty of opportunities for the investors, though any given industry -- such as software -- may not be a hot deal at any given time.
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
>>>Most all other occupations face the same challenges and pitfalls.
No. The U.S. Congress passed a law that specifically targets programmers. Quoting a previous slashdot article: "Section 1706 of the 1986 Tax Reform Act. Under the law, certain classes of workers, including anyone who engages as a "computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work," are considered de facto employees for tax purposes, regardless of whether they claim to operate their own businesses as independent contractors. The IRS can impose significant tax penalties on companies who hire such workers as contractors rather than full employees, a fact that can make it extremely difficult for self-employed programmers to find work."
An engineer can be independent designer, and yet still find work with someone like Lockheed.
A programmer who is an independent will not be hired, due to Lockheed being afraid of the IRS punishment.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Yes, working in a group makes it easier than working by yourself.
Thats why companies exist, they can be more productive and efficient than a single person if they properly pool resources and talents.
Accountability in code defects? Lawsuits? Are you fucking kidding me? What universe do you live in where this is happening? Certainly not the one with Microsoft or Toyota in it.
Hold on to their jobs until retirement? Yes, the industry is no longer a fledgling industry. Yes businesses are getting better at figuring out who is actually useful as a programmer and who just happened to pass some courses at the college they went to. The article confuses the industry coming of age and realizing how useless most of the people who claim to be in it are and people not being able to hold on to a job.
People get fired because they are less valuable than something/someone else that can replace them or the need for them has simply went away. Yes companies try to cycle through low cost employees as a way to cut costs, but they end up moving so slowly after a short period of time that they disappear quickly and account for a small percentage of the workforce.
Reality:
Working independently and competing against people who work in groups is generally hard. Doing it as a programmer is no different than doing it as a plumber, with one exception. The plumber isn't so retarded as to expect it to be any different nor do they have the sense of entitlement to think that it should be different for them.
Plenty of people DO go it alone. Happens constantly all the time. The company I work for actually works with more self employed people than companies.
Its not impossible, it just takes effort and is harder than working for a company with shared resources. Yes there are some silly laws aimed at software developers working on their own, but there are also some silly laws aimed at plumbers working alone. God, slashdot would just keel over dead if governments started requiring developers to be licensed and show they are qualified to do so like MANY MANY other professions.
I have a better question:
Why is it IT people in general feel that they are somehow different than everyone else in the world? Are they really so ignorant and socially dysfunctional to not realize that they are no different than any other part of society in any way? Is this ignorance or a form a geek elitism, thinking that we geeks can't possibly be expected to suffer under the same working conditions of the rest of the pathetic planet of idiots?
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
It's funny how all the big-business fat cats claim that "socialized healthcare" is bad for SMALL business, when yeah... lack of affordable self insurance is the PRIMARY reason many dreamers never give their nagging small business idea a go...
I was an independent contractor/developer for over 15 years and it was great. However, the dive in the economy and the items mentioned in the original post have squeezed things so much that large contracting organizations are swallowing up all the work and forcing independent contractors to roll over or hit the road. It doesn't matter what you know or how valuable to their clients. Decisions are made from the top of the organizations and middle management has little or no say about it.
I've been in software development for over 30 years and have always kept my skillset crisp and current. I've worked as W2 and 1099 over the years and I like 1099 much better (eg. no politics, focus on the task at hand rather than on corporate culture, more say in what and how I do things, etc.). However, unless corporations begin to operate like small companies (where the end product and customer satisfaction matters rather than maximizing share price at any cost), I don't see much hope for the future of independent developers. That is if making a good living matters. Granted, to some $$$ is secondary to enjoying what you do, but those of us with kids to: put through college, help with healthcare, supplement income due to the crappy job market, etc, it matters more than personal satisfaction.
Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train.
If it worked like that it would be awesome. But it doesn't.
Say you are an independent programmer with EIN in hand. You walk up to Acme Industrials and present your resume and EIN. They contract you because, dammit, you're really good. A few months go by. You're very good, and love the independence of contracting. So good, in fact, that Acme renews your contract. Life is good.
Tax season rolls around. The government says, "Hey Acme, your awesome programmer contractor is really an employee. You owe us 30% of his salary in withholding tax. You owe use unemployment taxes. You owe us social security taxes. You owe use these other fees. And you're late on paying for the past three years also. Pay or lube up."
Acme gets rid of the awesome contract programmer who is so damn good that he doesn't need an agency to find him work. Well, at least he didn't before.
We damaged or destroyed the music industry.
We could do that to lawyers and judges as well.
Considering their general low quality, they could in most cases be replaced with simple machine intelligence and data mining. Do this with open source and collaboration, and they will be displaced just like peopled stock exchanges.
Of course there will be a transition period, but when computer guided actors playing lawyers in court rooms win significantly more cases than real lawyers, and computers are better at judging than judges, people will treat them as the obsolete guild they are. The survivors will be lawyers that understands computing.
Kim0
Not the case, actually, which is why very few companies will actually contract with INDIVIDUALS any more. Any company working with an LLC or a C/S class corporation is automatically covered. Its impossible to hire a corporation, therefore they can't possibly treat you as an employee, so this situation never comes up.
Working as an independent on a 1099 basis is almost impossible. Hence step one, forming an LLC.
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
let's see which ones of those professions depend on software nowadays:
- doctors/nurses/medical, think that MRI machine is mechanical? what about that CT scanner? or simply the gizmo that charts your BP/pulse?
- civil engineers: think they are still using drafting tables to come up with buildings? or hand-write calculations for those bridges?
- mechanical engineers: do you think that cars today are fully mechanical? airplanes?
- rest of traditional engineering: electrical engineers do again everything on paper?
- military: I am sure they'd love to go back to scouting parties instead of satellite imagery
unless you want society to roll back entirely to the 1930s/1940s I think you might want to reconsider putting software developers at the same level as telephone sanitizers...
-- the cake is a lie
About this time last year I was working as the IT manager for a multinational manufacturer. The IT group was targeted for yet another round of cost-cutting; they gave me an hour to decide who would get a buy-out package and a shove out the door. I talked them into letting it be me, put the buy-out money in a rainy day account and started my own software company. I told my wife that if we weren't cash positive within 6 months I would give it up and start looking for a real job. Over the last 12 months we've made more than they were paying me in the "real job" and we've never actually had to fall back on the rainy-day account, in fact we've almost doubled it.
Starting my own company was not easy. I have to sell, communicate well, be easily accessible 7/24 and give my clients plenty of sound business reasons to keep coming back in between turning in top quality work on time. I'd have to work my a** off and most days are 12~16 hours long. I have still managed to take two vacation weeks since I started and we have a third week schedule for May... on vacations I do have to keep one eye on my email and be willing to get up a few hours early to handle anything that can't wait until we get back.
There are no sick days or personal days. Working for yourself means you both have all the time in the world and no time. Before when a stupid boss would make unreasonable demands or mistakes I just had to deal with it. When a client makes unreasonable demands I just charge more. They can be as unreasonable as they want $$$
To start your own company, software or otherwise;
- be prepared for long hours, don't let a client down even if it means pulling all-nighters until your not sure what day it is
- force yourself to learn the new things consistently, figure out where your clients need to be 6 months from now and learn or do whatever it takes to be there waiting for them
- find an accountant you trust to handle the tax laws
- find an attorney you trust to handle the legalese
I've never been happier in my career.