&gt; Business guys are typically going to make more money than the coders are, it&#x27;s pointless to fight this.<p>Negotiating a better deal is pointless? What? I thought you were in favor of business.<p>&gt; The reason is that the business side is the human side, and humans are harder to deal with, ultimately, than computers are.<p>I will not get into an argument about whether humans are harder or easier to deal with. I also will not get into an argument about whether software development is fraught with the same types of issues with dealing with people.<p>Instead I will just point out that pay is not directly related to the difficulty of the work. It is a function of the value derived from the work, the availability of labor, the negotiating skill of the various parties involved, and many other factors (all to varying degrees).<p>I agree with everything else that you said, especially the part about $$$&#x2F;employee figures and their misleading nature. In general whenever you see $&#x2F;(some arbitrary unit) in the financial press, be wary. It is sometimes a useful way to look at things, but it is incredibly easy to manipulate so that it ends up being a completely useless figure. I see it happen all the time, and these are often the most quotable lines as well (sadly).