Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration::Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay — others jumped in to note the importance of the jobs and harsh working conditions.
Headline should read “Corporate Magazine Attempts to Stoke Up Some Of That Old Anti-Labour Heat From The 80s.”
Worked in Ed-Tech making less than teachers while at the same time seeing that when the network went down so did the majority of teachers’ ability to teach. Didn’t make me mad that the person with a Masters made more than the person with an A+. Also spoke to a former tech who, in six years, went from making less than I did in the same position to making over $300k a year.
If you want it, it’s out there. You want UPS driver pay? You want to put yourself in one of the more dangerous jobs and do physical labor? You want CISO pay? You want to forego intimate relationships and free time? You want Ed-Tech Technician pay? You want to sit in an air conditioned office, answer printer and smart board tickets and goof off for half of every day?
High paying tech jobs are out there yeah but you gotta be an SME and own a solution which really involves in my POV knowing programming, some backend, networking and infrastructure. Tech work is so vast people only really master one thing. Tech workers are notoriously lazy as well, soon as people get a “cushy” job it’s like pulling teeth trying to get them to learn a new skill. Can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve tried to teach old school network guys some devops stuff and they say something like “I don’t want to have to learn programming” and when I tell them it’s really not as complicated as they think they have some other excuse locked and loaded
The Tech field does encourage laziness in certain specializations. Networking is notorious for it because once it’s up and configured properly you should be able to sit back and relax. For the most part it will run itself when set up correctly. And you pay for that downtime by not getting paid as much.
CyberSecurity is absolutely booming right now, and those dudes are making a mint. Why? Cause they’re going to run around like beheaded chickens more times than not with the pace that attacks are happening. What’s that do for their salary? Shoots it through the roof.
Just because your job is business critical doesn’t mean you deserve as much as someone else who’s doing business critical work. How much work are you doing to maintain the business is the real question, and like I said above, proper Networks should not require tons of intervention. Security solutions, however, do.
Well I only work on new stuff/deployments for data centers. Once it’s deployed it goes to ops for support. I don’t know if you have a lot of experience in large networks but there is a lot of break/fix work with failing hardware components and physical issues …but that’s not the side of the house you want to be in because operational stuff like NOCs are always high turnover fast-paced jobs where everything is your fault. If you’re going to work networking you gotta transition to the “money-making” side of the house for better quality of life. Right now the “sexy” stuff is devops/automation and that’s where a lot of gripe comes from with the old school CLI guys because they don’t want to learn anything new.
Job before this was at a university with a small team of infrastructure engineers and you would think their job was to stifle progress. Their whole team and millions of dollars in expensive networking equipment could get replaced by a private cell tower.
Cyber security field is a bit different, companies know now they have to spend money on it now so the faucet is open. Most of the real preventative methods for security happen at the network. Security guys that are paid deep into six figures know networking, Linux, programming and other things.
Being an SME and earning the big bucks, in my opinion, is about knowing quite a bit about many things
“This is disappointing, how is possible that a driver makes much more than average Engineer in R&D?”
Because the engineer is being exploited and refuses to unionize.
“To get a base salary of $170k you know you need to work hard as an Engineer, this sucks.”
Bitch, UPS workers work harder than I ever did as an electronics engineer.
“To get a base salary of $170k you know you need to work hard as an Engineer, this sucks.”
As someone who has worked as a UPS driver and now as a software developer, I can say that the UPS drivers definitely work harder than your average engineer.
That quote is also deftly ignoring the fact that you’re generally paid for the value you generate, not how hard to you work.
Generally you’re paid the least they can get away with (with some variance in what they think that is).
It generally requires a union to get paid closer to the value you generate.
I’m starting to think people should be forced to have at least 1 year of experience in a, so called, blue-collar job before they are allowed to have an office job.
“To get a base salary of $170k you know you need to work hard as an Engineer, this sucks.”
Bitch, UPS workers work harder than I ever did as an electronics engineer.
If he wants the $170k so badly, he should go get a job as a driver then.
Fucking truth, especially for software engineers. I spent most of today debating whether to use
npmorpnpmfor some project that’s probably just going to get mothballed anyway.I mean I know my worth, but I definitely don’t work even 1/23rd as hard as even the laziest delivery driver imaginable. Even pretending to be a delivery driver is more work than my actual job.
As a tech worker in rhe U.S. we are definitely not being exploited. I’m all for unions but we’re doing just fine.
I hear what you’re saying: we’re very well compensated. But think of the profit your team helps generate for your employer. It is a lot more than the combined salaries of the people who actually make the product / service.
Let’s just say that some tech workers in the US are being exploited more than others. A lot more
deleted by creator
The context is all wrong. It is less money for CEOs, not less for tech workers. Good job teamsters.
I know someone in his 20s who makes $41 and some change per hour plus $150 per diem…
7 days on and 7 days off…
“Unskilled” coal mine work.
It’s pretty damn insulting to be honest as someone who’s been in the technology industry for over 25 years when I have to deal with companies and recruiters thinking that my labor is somehow worth less than that.
Hell, I made more than that 18 years ago (and I still do as an hourly without the per diem) but now I get dipshit recruiters emailing and calling me constantly thinking I should be willing to work for $25 an hour or even sometimes less.
It’s like I’m living in fucking crazy world.
Not sure why that is but energy jobs pay a lot. Had a friend who worked on an oil rig and made about 400k
Seems pretty crazy really…
deleted by creator
I would still try to fight for more than you make. It will be tough, don’t get me wrong, but I think most industries are in this position one way or another. Everything is going up, and everyone has to eat. Why can’t everyone make more, so less people suffer? The costs for everyone have certainly increased. A lot of these “record profits” should really be finding their way to employees, but they rarely do anymore.
With the “unskilled coal mine work” example specifically, I believe a big reason for their pay rate is the numerous immediate and long term health risks that are associated with it. Historically, mining has been a pretty fatal/dangerous job. They miners will probably need that money down the road if they get any of those bad conditions. It’s certainly not a job that I would feel safe doing, nor is it one I would ever do for cheap. You should look into all of the associated lung diseases and ths effects that certain mined materials can have on the human body, especially with prolonged exposure. PPE can only do so much sometimes.
When I see people making more than me with less skill, I think “damn, I should be making that too”. Why can’t both jobs have good pay rates? Both would be nice. What a world we live in.
If you can, unionizing might help. It takes the company perspective from “we’ll lose one great guy” to “holy shit, everything will crash and burn if we don’t meet their demands!”. I would also look into the laws in your area. Where I live, unions can protect you well before you actually create a contract. That knowledge was very useful to my coworkers and I a couple of years ago, because we previously thought that they could just fire us for trying to join a union (jobs are at-will here).
If you get a good union, the pros can outweigh the fees easily. They can cut right through a LOT of corporate bs, and they will usually provide lawyers for you if your company tries to screw you over. The lawyers mine provides are pretty top-tier.
I don’t disagree with anything you said.
Pushing tens of pounds around in the heat everyday is hard, expecially inside a van without AC.
Let’s just hope tech workers will be smart enough to unionize and organize like the UPS Chads did.
It’s a good objective, but it would take a lot to make it happen. It’s significantly more challenging for tech workers to effectively unionize en masse for several reasons:
-
Tech isn’t monopsonistic, or even close to it; there isn’t a single large employer… even the biggest tech companies employ only a relatively small fraction of the tech workforce. That means separate unionization efforts at thousands of big companies, not at one.
-
Tech job functions are much more widely varied than “delivery driver”; job responsibilities differ greatly, complexity and education requirements differ greatly, workplace expectations differ greatly … think of the difference between help desk, front end dev, network security engineering, data science and DBA. Collective bargaining is harder the more varied the needs of the collective are.
-
Job mobility is really high in the tech sector … in other words, tech employees (by and large) have access to many prospective employers (especially with the prevalence of remote work), and tech employers to a wide geographic pool of talent. That means if your San Francisco office seems on the path to unionization, you can shift work to your Chennai office.
-
It also means that, when the working conditions at a tech company suck, a lot of tech workers can easily jump ship. It’s hard to get a union going when your voters can easily quit and go work someplace nicer, rather than take the more difficult path of staying and trying to force your employer to improve.
Again, I think highly of unions and would really like to see more effective unionization efforts in tech – I just want folks to go into it eyes wide open and intelligently, vs throwing up their hands and saying, “Why don’t tech workers unionize?”
Yea i understand, for reference my father works and worked his whole life in IT, my grandma worked as union rep and I’m interested in both worlds, I get that the struggle is real, the sector is young. Even just 30 years ago there was no IT market, for reference the transport industry is as old as time and yet this historic contract was won in 2023 AD, we just gotta push and organize.
-
As a tech worker, I say good for them.
As a tech worker in Europe, the concept of “deserving” or “not deserving” a specific number has always been a total joke. Your salary is like 80% determined by location alone.
Any notion of “merit” (whatever that even means, there isn’t even a good way of measuring it in many industries) has always been only very loosely correlated with compensation.
So if you can get it, go get it.
As a fellow tech worker, I agree. Probably most tech workers would agree, but since that’s boring, this article focuses on the opinion of just “some tech workers on social media”. So dumb.
“some tech workers on social media”.
“some tech workers on blind”. Even worse
Like 3 ancient jaded guys that are working on network infrastructure for a small hospital in Montana posted on Xwitter that they’re upset. 10000 bots reposted it…now it’s newsworthy.
Xwitter
I’m going with Xitter pronounced sh-ITT-er That makes tweets Xits pronounced sh-IT-s
A UPS driving job is a hell of a lot more difficult and tiring than most tech jobs. It might take less skill, but tech workers don’t have to be out in the heat or freezing cold all day carrying heavy loads and dealing with angry people who blame them for a late package or, worse, get shot at for the crime of being in the neighborhood while black.
This is true. Hence why garbage men are paid quite a lot. Low skill but a very difficult job.
Driving quickly but safely with an oversized vehicle is a skill.
Preparing so you can survive on the road for an entire day, is a skill.
Delivering loads of items on a tight schedule, despite all the shit that life is going to throw at you (accidents, roadworks, dog attacks, etc) is a skill.
Can we stop with this “low skill” bullshit? Most white-collar workers wouldn’t last a week in one of these jobs. The low/high skill classification is just a way for the managerial classes to justify their outsized
profiteeringremuneration.
Can we react more about trust fund managers and CxO salaries instead?
Interestingly, we sort of can’t. Someone would have to write an article about it and no large, for-profit media company would publish it.
Points from the article:
could get $170,000 in pay and benefits in five years’ time in a new contract.
“This is disappointing, how is possible that a driver makes much more than average Engineer in R&D?”“This is disappointing, how is possible that an average Engineer in R&D makes much less than a driver?”It is important to note that the $170,000 figure represents the entire value of the UPS package, including benefits and does not represent the base salary.
Despite some tech workers’ resentment, many workers pointed out UPS drivers work under difficult conditions.
“I’d love for you to meet my dad who has delivered for UPS for over 35 years, hauls 100s of packages in the 105+ degree Texas heat, is literally Santa Claus in Dec, and does it for 9+ hours a day at 67 yo,”
My FIL recently retired after 25+ years with UPS. He made pretty good money, but he worked a ton of overtime. IIRC their top pay rate was somewhere between $30-35/hour. That puts base pay at about $75k/year. I wonder how UPS calculated the extra $100k/year in benefits or if they’re assuming their average driver works some quantity of overtime. I’m betting it’s the second, which would drive the numbers up. However, to make that kind of money you’re going to be working 50+ hours a week and most holidays.
There are guys at my hub that make 150k take home, but never see their families because all they do is work. Sorry. That’s not for me. I like my wife and kids way too much to sacrifice what little time we get on this earth. I do my 40-50 hours a week and go the fuck home for weekends and take my vacations.
Why does this article exist? Who cares what tech workers think about someone else’s pay rate?
Why does this article exist? Who cares what tech workers think about someone else’s pay rate?
is there to make people mad that the drivers are getting paid more and make you more predisposed to hate unions.
Why would I hate unions if they are capable of getting me 170k salary? Sounds like I need to be in a union. My last thought is hating them.
A majority have crabs-in-a-bucket mentality and this “news story” is meant for them
This reminds me of what happened at my last job towards the end of the lockdown. Previously, you started at a certain wage and increased a specific amount every 500ish hours, up to a limit. The last “raise” was only like 4 cents, but you still had to work the extra 500ish hours to get it.
Well, the company decided that they weren’t paying enough to be competitive, so they suddenly raised everyone to the top rate. This put people who just started their very first job at the same pay rate as the people who had been there for multiple years. Their “solution” was to give the long term employees a one off, taxed, check for $200. To say that people were angry would be an understatement.
Personally, I think they should have just increased everyone across the board, especially after previously bragging about making record profits multiple years in a row.
IMO, when someone else makes more, it gives me room to also argue for more. Otherwise, why not go to another company that will pay it? Getting angry at the guy with the raise won’t give you one. Inflation will still happen.

We all do better when we all do better.
As someone who has only worked freight in an air-conditioned warehouse, moving boxes is not easy work and not many people will be able to do it their whole careers. I’m personally glad I argue with computers for my job now and I have much respect for those lifting things in the elements.
“A rising tide lifts all boats” is something Republicans say is impossible because God wouldn’t let the liberal commie boats rise with the patriot boats.
“A rising tide lifts all boats” is something Republicans say is impossible because God wouldn’t let the
liberal commie boatspeasant fishing rowboats rise with thepatriot boatsyachts.
No anger at the UPS drivers, just my employer. But I can’t exactly stop working without risking my life collapsing around me so 🙃
Who are these tech workers getting mad?
As a tech worker, fuck yeah! You earned it. Delivery people deal with so much shit. And I’m rooting for your success.
