Your casual insertion of “able-bodied” hides an important point: there are lots of people who can’t do janitorial work either. There is nothing inherently different between the two types of work. The difference is of degree, not kind. I know developers who would be literally incapable of performing janitorial work. You probably do too.
I completely disagree with your statement at the end. The janitors are absolutely needed. Maybe you don’t need people with the title of “janitor” because your developers take care of that work too, but that just means they’re part-time janitors, not that you have no janitors. An office that actually has no janitors will rapidly become filthy and filled with trash.
You’re confusing need with ease of acquisition. It can look like companies don’t need janitors very much because they’re so easy to get. Companies don’t have to pay them well or treat them well because the supply is large and if you drive one away, there’s another one ready to take their place. But that doesn’t mean the need is low, it just means the supply is high.
As an analogy, consider: what are the greatest needs for an individual? You’d probably answer: food, shelter, companionship, maybe something like fulfilling work. I bet you didn’t answer “air.” Yet our need for air is perhaps our greatest need: without it, we die in just a few minutes. Why doesn’t that come to mind as a need? It’s because it’s so easy to obtain, we just don’t think about it.
Basic economics dictates that the difference in supply versus demand means developers will be able to command much higher salaries. Not because they’re needed more, but because they’re harder to get. The same reason a glass of champagne is more expensive than a glass of water, which is more expensive than a breath of air. If a company decides to pay their janitors more than the economics says they have to, that doesn’t mean that I should expect them to do the same thing for me as a developer.
I completely disagree with your statement at the end. The janitors are absolutely needed. Maybe you don’t need people with the title of “janitor” because your developers take care of that work too, but that just means they’re part-time janitors, not that you have no janitors. An office that actually has no janitors will rapidly become filthy and filled with trash.
You’re confusing need with ease of acquisition. It can look like companies don’t need janitors very much because they’re so easy to get. Companies don’t have to pay them well or treat them well because the supply is large and if you drive one away, there’s another one ready to take their place. But that doesn’t mean the need is low, it just means the supply is high.
As an analogy, consider: what are the greatest needs for an individual? You’d probably answer: food, shelter, companionship, maybe something like fulfilling work. I bet you didn’t answer “air.” Yet our need for air is perhaps our greatest need: without it, we die in just a few minutes. Why doesn’t that come to mind as a need? It’s because it’s so easy to obtain, we just don’t think about it.
Basic economics dictates that the difference in supply versus demand means developers will be able to command much higher salaries. Not because they’re needed more, but because they’re harder to get. The same reason a glass of champagne is more expensive than a glass of water, which is more expensive than a breath of air. If a company decides to pay their janitors more than the economics says they have to, that doesn’t mean that I should expect them to do the same thing for me as a developer.