Is coding be the next blue collar job?
For anyone thinking that coders are all Mark Zuckerberg clones searching for the next earth-shattering idea, think again. The truth is that there are a range of positions available for coders. Yes, these positions can include the lone genius coder trope, but more often they are stable, well paid, 40-hour a week jobs that appeal to all types of people and skill levels.
America’s backbone
Blue collar jobs are perceived as the backbone of America’s working middle-class society. Whereas in the past they these jobs have included more traditional, laborious positions, today’s technological advances have opened up other opportunities.
In particular, coding and computer science jobs are increasing and can even become the next blue collar opportunities once they are not perceived as being out of reach.
Beep. Bop. Boop. Talking to computers
I get it. Upon hearing the word “coder” I immediately conjure up an image in my mind of a young, nerdy man wearing a hooded sweatshirt with smarts beyond my reach. However, what we have realized is that this is not true. According to Wired, only 8% of the nation’s coders work out of Silicon Valley.
This means the vast majority of these positions are being filled in smaller cities on a smaller but still equally important level.
Most of these jobs require working knowledge of Javascript, but does not demand you spend all of your time working on crazy algorithms. Coding is a solid middle class job that also happens to pay more. In fact, the national average salary for IT jobs is $81,000, which is nearly double than the nation’s average for all other jobs.
The future of blue collar coding
As technology progresses, these fields will continue to expand, and make way for even more job opportunities. [clickToTweet tweet=”In order for people to seize coding opportunities, the mentality towards coders needs to change.” quote=”In order for people to seize these opportunities, the mentality towards coders needs to change.”] This would open up the way for more training, available at an earlier age in peoples’ education.
Some coding programs are already making this possible. The Tennessee nonprofit CodeTN has introduced coding programs in community colleges. Slowly, barriers are being broken down to change the way coding jobs are perceived, who pursues them, and create a path towards coding becoming the next blue collar job.
