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High-Frequency Programmers Revolt Over Pay

Posted by kdawson on from the crying-all-the-way dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Programmers who design and code algorithms for investment banking are unhappy with their salaries. Many of them receive a low 6-figure salary whereas their bosses — who manipulate these algorithms and execute the trades — often earn millions. One such anonymous programmer points out that he was paid $150,000 per year, whereas the software he wrote was generating $100,000 per day."

9 of 1,018 comments (clear)

  1. Somebody call the waaaambulance by TrisexualPuppy · · Score: -1, Troll

    Did someone order waaaaaamburgers and french cries?

    If you think that you can do any better, go out and start your own firm.

    1. Re:Somebody call the waaaambulance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      You don't seem to understand there is no risk in this kind of 'trading' (in reality, parasitic behavior). It should all be illegal but your government will always bow to money and power rather than consider socialist models you seem to be so scared of. Your country is the last empire (hint, hint). On a grander scale, that's why you are so fucked up in the USA and cannot understand how other wealthy countries go by without experiencing the enormous differences in wealth and wellbeing among their population. We here in Slashdot are certainly not representative of society. Many many people have their lives and their financial wellbeing thrown down the drain because they are stupid and can't easily understand what interest rate is, but their financial troubles slow all of us down. I don't have sympathy for the idiots or for those that don't see 'past their nose' but there has to be a better way to accommodate stupidity than poverty and misery. The games played in the stock exchanges are of no benefit to society and yet they go on, an undesirable artifact of the market, basically validating sociopaths who see no reason to alter their behavior. It looks like humans need misery.

  2. Boo Effin Hoo by fatboy · · Score: 0, Troll

    How can the guy survive on 150K a year? I bet he had to settle for a little cuddy instead of getting the large custom houseboat. Cry me a river.

    --
    --fatboy
  3. Re:Why not just open your own business then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    But you see, that would make him see that he's actually NOT worth that, and on his own, he won't be able to make shit.

    That's the last thing they want. They just want to whine about deserving more than their *6 bloody digit* salaries. It's all about the entitlement.

  4. Excuse me? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I'm the brother of one of the managers he's talking about (maybe not the specific boss in question, but he's in the same situation) and let me tell you...Did the programmers come up with the specs? Did the programmers come up with the strategy? No. They are just automatons pecking away at the keyboard while stewing in their own envy juice. Lame. Intelligence should be and is richly rewarded and as we can tell from their low 6-figure salary those developers are simply not as smart as the managers. *shrug* bring in the next batch

  5. Re:Right... by SupremoMan · · Score: 0, Troll

    Both of which cost millions if I may add. If these "poor" souls feel so used, they should quit. Then they can sit at home reading the classifieds as some guy from India does their job for 10K a year and an apartment with no furniture.

  6. Re:waaaaaaambulance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    People just don't want to pay you that kind of money because you're you.

  7. Re:Yet...he agreed to it right? by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Troll

    Well if I might use a car example..... Nah let's make it a computer. The Seller sold it to me for $210 and free shipping. She then decided not to deliver the Microsoft Office software promised in the auction because "you already got a great deal" and "wants to sell MS Office for $100 to make up for my loss".

    i.e. She's suffering Seller Remorse because she didn't get as much money as she wanted ($400). These banking programmers who think $150,000 is not enough are suffering the same effect, and now they are whining about it.
    .

    >>>It's sometimes hard to tell what a job will entail until you've done it (early in your career)

    Too bad. You should still place the blame *on yourself* not on your buyer. And use the lesson learned to ask for more money on the next sale
    .

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  8. Re:Bosses earn too much by tehcyder · · Score: 1, Troll

    Yeah, really. Six figures for a programming job is fantastic pretty much no matter how you slice it. If it seems like the guy who's making ten times that isn't contributing a commensurate amount over what you do, well, welcome to reality. Especially the reality of trading and finance.

    The trader who earns ten times more than you is directly earning the company money, you are just part of the overhead. If he makes the company one hundred million profit in a year, it's not unreasonable for him to earn ten million or more.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it