SA developers some of the best paid in the world

[Kevin Lancaster]

South African developers some of the best paid in the world

Results from a Stack Overflow survey suggests that South African developers are among the best paid in the world by purchasing power… they also drink a lot of coffee.

 

[lestoran]

Interesting but lacks a lot of data:

1) How much is left after tax
2) Medical / school / other services which are free in some countries
3) Other "taxes" only required in some countries like private security
4) Cost of property/rent

For example in Canada tax is high but schools/medical is free while in US tax is much lower but schools/medical costs are some of the highest in the world.

Here in SA we have high taxes AND we have to pay for school/medical (admittedly much less than in US). On the other end property is really cheap in comparison with 1st world countries.

Obviously its almost impossible to cover everything but even just the above should a much clearer picture of the kind of lifestyle your average dev has.

 

[biometrics]

SA sample size 128.

 

[skimread]

SA sample size 128.

Where the F is those companies who's developers use google and stackoverflow to ask questions they don't know the answers for and earn that salary. Please PM me! I earn half the amount so realizing how I am getting screwed.

Dammit PM me the list of companies.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

If you flip back through the previous two years you will see that the sample size is equally small and hardly representative. Many local developers should not call themselves developers in the first place - most of them are copy&paste typists and could not write a piece of solid code without the help of Google or StackOverflow. Also, just because you are fast does not mean that you are a good developer either.

 

[thatshowiroll]

Where the F is those companies who's developers use google and stackoverflow to ask questions they don't know the answers for and earn that salary. Please PM me! I earn half the amount so realizing how I am getting screwed.

Dammit PM me the list of companies.

It's pretty normal for a developer to use stackoverflow/google etc., as long as they don't use it all the time for everything. The alternative is a developer who already knows everything about everything...

 

[whatwhat]

Where the F is those companies who's developers use google and stackoverflow to ask questions they don't know the answers for and earn that salary. Please PM me! I earn half the amount so realizing how I am getting screwed.

Dammit PM me the list of companies.

That would be most of SA.

 

[genetic]

Interesting but lacks a lot of data:

1) How much is left after tax
2) Medical / school / other services which are free in some countries
3) Other "taxes" only required in some countries like private security
4) Cost of property/rent

->

Results from a Stack Overflow survey suggests that South African developers are among the best paid in the world by purchasing power

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

That would be most of SA.

True - at one of the telcos we had a contractor who posted all his project work on SO and Elance - such as "I have those database table and need to get a SQL going to get those results" or "I need to write a BI proc to present data in this way" - the guy was very resourceful and turned to the web when he could not pawn his work off to co-workers while he went off to the gym/lunch/shopping. FWIW - he was charged out at R650/h and lost his job 8 months later.

 

[biometrics]

True - at one of the telcos we had a contractor who posted all his project work on SO and Elance - such as "I have those database table and need to get a SQL going to get those results" or "I need to write a BI proc to present data in this way" - the guy was very resourceful and turned to the web when he could not pawn his work off to co-workers while he went off to the gym/lunch/shopping. FWIW - he was charged out at R650/h and lost his job 8 months later.

Since I started coding professionally in 1989 (wrote my first line of code in 1982) I've seen my fair share of BS'ers. Imo I'd guess half (or more) of so called developers are crap. If you only start coding in your 20's you've got a lot of background to pick up. And if it's only a job and not your hobby (passion really) you're never going to be excellent. It's easy for BS'ers to get away with it, they just throw around buzzwords.

 

[Garson007]

Here in SA we have high taxes

Uh, I'd suggest doing an actual comparison before putting your foot in your mouth.

 

[deweyzeph]

Since I started coding professionally in 1989 (wrote my first line of code in 1982) I've seen my fair share of BS'ers. Imo I'd guess half (or more) of so called developers are crap. If you only start coding in your 20's you've got a lot of background to pick up. And if it's only a job and not your hobby (passion really) you're never going to be excellent. It's easy for BS'ers to get away with it, they just throw around buzzwords.

I've never understood these developers who only code from 8am to 5pm and then don't touch any code until they get into work the next morning. I've met plenty of them and in my opinion they don't have the passion, the inclination or technical skill to be called real developers. Being a software developer is a calling, not a job. If you're not eating, sleeping and breathing code you've got no business even calling yourself a developer.

 

[deweyzeph]

Uh, I'd suggest doing an actual comparison before putting your foot in your mouth.

I agree. We actually pay very little tax in South Africa compared to European countries and the States. Especially in the States, you pay tax both at the federal level, the state level and the local municipal level. High income earners in South Africa have very little to complain about when it comes to taxes compared to other countries.

 

[pmbellis]

Big Mac is bust ...

I left SA for the UK over a year ago, and while food (? is a Big Mac actually classed as food ?) is more expensive than in SA, and property is horrendously more expensive, my standard of living has shot up to way above what it was in SA. ... I bought a car, cash, on 2 months salary (2nd hand, but jolly good ... same car would have taken 7 months of my SA salary in SA). My communications (all types) are laughably cheap. clothes are cheaper, electronics are much cheaper.

My tax is higher here than in SA, I pay a lot of "council" tax (~ Rates and Taxes), my electricity usage is more than in SA [heating bill]. But despite all that, I am more comfortably off, with a larger % of my earnings disposable [meaning I can blow it if I want to!] than in SA.

AND ... for the tax I pay I actually get good roads, good policing, free health care, a brilliant public commuter system.

My point? You CANNOT quantify differences in standard of living or "earning power" with simplistic indexes. What I value, another may hate. What I would happily pay a premium for, another would be horrified to have to pay anything at all. Every single person/family has it's own standard of what is better.

 

[biometrics]

snip

How's the weather over there?

Oh and how big is your house?

 

[whatwhat]

I've never understood these developers who only code from 8am to 5pm and then don't touch any code until they get into work the next morning. I've met plenty of them and in my opinion they don't have the passion, the inclination or technical skill to be called real developers. Being a software developer is a calling, not a job. If you're not eating, sleeping and breathing code you've got no business even calling yourself a developer.

In the older days you had to really be into programming and computers, these days people see computers and mobile apps as the next gold rush. So everyone is doing it, and most of them just don't care as it's just another job like real estate.

We take on a lot of graduates in our company, and they are terrible. 8-5 workers, no responsibility and no ownership to anything that they are tasked to do.

 

[stevenv]

I agree. We actually pay very little tax in South Africa compared to European countries and the States. Especially in the States, you pay tax both at the federal level, the state level and the local municipal level. High income earners in South Africa have very little to complain about when it comes to taxes compared to other countries.

Except after paying all that tax, you still get:

(1) ****ty healthcare, so pay for private medical aid
(2) ****ty public education, so either (a) pay for expensive property near good semi-public schools or (b) pay for private school
(3) ****ty policing, so either (a) pay for private security or (b) live in a gated estate
(4) ****ty telecoms, so pay through your arse for decent connectivity
(5) ****ty television, so either (a) pay the monopoly through your arse or (b) pay through your arse for decent connectivity to use overseas services
(6) ****ty government, enough said.

So although we may pay less tax we're worse off with all of the "private tax" we pay to get services anywhere near to other countries.

 

[icyrus]

I've never understood these developers who only code from 8am to 5pm and then don't touch any code until they get into work the next morning. I've met plenty of them and in my opinion they don't have the passion, the inclination or technical skill to be called real developers. Being a software developer is a calling, not a job. If you're not eating, sleeping and breathing code you've got no business even calling yourself a developer.

Your attitude is one of the poisons in the tech community.

 

[whatwhat]

Your attitude is one of the poisons in the tech community.

How so?

 

[icyrus]

How so?

Software development is just like any other white collar job. People can be great at it and leave it behind after work. (https://twitter.com/nickstenning/status/580697408448958464)

"Must have passion" is the siren call of ****ty sweatshops.