Do you agree that the salary of hardware engineers is falsely high?

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Share with you the last hot topic ： The salary of hardware engineer is falsely high , Do you agree ？

Never thought that the salary of hardware engineer was high .

Think , In a project , In node position , Connection software （BSP Or system group ）、 purchase 、 industrial design 、 structure 、 Safety regulations , And some hardware internal posts, such as layout、 radio frequency 、 test 、 production 、 Pilot test 、 Process, etc .

If the project has FPGA and DSP Naturally, you need to plug in these groups , But also directly against the giant companies CEO or CTO These bosses , However, status is not at the partner level .

Often become 3-20 Many people switch, Become a natural project manager or product manager in fact , Know everything , Everything should be coordinated .

Take the software and hardware debugging as an example ： Always use a pair of marks 1 To 3 Even 8 To a dozen software engineers , However, at best, it is usually comparable to the highest paid software engineer , In most cases, it is far less than .

Deadly ：

1. Technology accumulation is slow

Few people can lead the way , Most of the hardware engineers are poor , Accumulated little , Unable to be qualified as a guide for others , So personal growth depends almost entirely on independent self-improvement and improvement , There are few teaching materials that can be directly used for self-study of work skills , Compared with the transformation of software learning into skill output, it is only equivalent to 1：3~5.

2. Low fault tolerance

error 、 A failed hardware design is making garbage , useless , Under the R & D accident, the feeling of guilt is like a caesarean section , Will be fired by the company to a large extent , Or the company suffers huge losses , Or the company goes bankrupt .

3. The cost of promotion is high

Dealing with entities , Actions are based on entities , As soon as we arrive at the real object, it must be a non ideal model , Strange things often happen , Many are not caused by design . It is almost impossible for individuals to improve their skills at their own expense , Many companies may not be able or willing to undertake , and , Who to train , Whether such people exist ？

4. If you don't understand, you've already , Once you understand it, there is no limit

In the early years, being a single engineer may be very satisfying , For example, he can only draw circuits or layout, At least I envy others when they have these skills , But if you have any idea , It is necessary to grasp these two greedily at the same time , Nature expands in sequence .

master N individual ：

production 、 debugging 、 test 、 process , Language and software skills , Development environment construction ,boot And start , file system , operating system ,Linux,Android, structure , Thermal specification ,ESD、EMI and EMC Electromagnetic specification , Signal integrity , Power integrity , Digital system design , Communications technology , High speed circuit , radio frequency , The antenna , Keep pace with the times xG、AI...

Light needs to master the software （ Not all ）：

Cadence（OrCAD、allegro、pspice）& pads（logic、layout、HyperLynx）& AD、CAM350、Polar SI9000、HFSS & ADS & CST、Keil、CCS、Quartus & ISE & Vivado、STM32CUBE、eclipse, A specific chip corresponds to a specific development suite , be familiar with 、 It takes time and trouble to master .

Light needs to master tools and instruments （ Not all ）：

Electric iron 、 Hot air gun 、 A multimeter 、 Oscilloscope 、 Logic analyzer 、 Analog or digital power supply 、 Spectrometer 、 Signal generator 、 Wireless integrated tester 、 Electrostatic gun 、x Ray optical camera 、 Surface temperature camera , Laboratory construction , Test environment design and construction , Experimental process operation ...

Each knowledge point or skill is isolated , Learning or mastering the sense of ascension is extremely limited , But once there is a blind area of knowledge, it will be painful and panic , Fart big things will torture you and stop you in an attempt to erase you . And you , Only constant swallowing , Like a greedy snake , Swallow the whole world .

5. The employment environment is not good , The sense of professional achievement is getting lower and lower

There are fewer and fewer entities , More investment , Limited revenue . From the perspective of businessmen and capital , The ratio of input to output is low , Relatively high risk . We often regard ourselves as artists of perfectionism and idealism , What is an artist , Open up 、 create 、 Freedom and infinite possibility .

However , The workplace atmosphere is spoiled by the miserable dog slave society and an old dog , The children and grandchildren who are not divided by right and wrong carry forward and become smelly and evil .

Engineers are respectable 、 A respectable position 、 A pioneer in transforming the world , however , Now I am really a slave to technology , The salary is low , The high housing prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, where the main positions are located, make it an extravagant dream to buy a house , And the workplace atmosphere is not friendly 996,007, Working slaves , There is no room for resistance , Not to mention 34 The watershed of age , The background atmosphere is too bad .

Many companies are far more stupid in form than in effect KPI Assessment of , Troublesome and impatient , It seems that creative work is regarded as piece work , Zombies eat their brains .

A career , There is no time for study , Nor open authorization , The salary is not much better , Personal income does not increase linearly or exponentially or positively with skill growth .

Clearly bear great responsibility , However, professional status and discourse power have not been paid attention to , It's not easy to be a partner , They often have to stand up to their opinions , Even with CTO、CEO Red face , Growth is very slow and difficult , Virtually become the core of the company , So hardware engineers have become a scarce species .

Think about the equipment you use at work 、 Materials and other assets are usually recorded in your name , Don't make mistakes , Trial and error are not allowed . In the company's assembly line, it undertakes the longest link and cycle , You can't breathe without stopping , We should also summarize and learn to improve our skills at the same time , It is a great responsibility to do mass production , Maybe we can destroy the company separately , Almost a natural boss of the company .

Money is seriously irresponsible ！

We often feel like Moses or Jesus , Come as a natural organizer to save or lead , But actually , In the eyes of others , Not at all , It seems to be donquixote .

In my opinion , The hardware engineer can only achieve the software 3~5 A salary of times is relatively reasonable , And should give the authority of partner type and psychological stability .

However , The truth is , Many domestic companies are just gangsters , Making money depends on crooked ways , Technology doesn't matter , It's just a facade .

Hardware engineers are poorly recognized in China , Many hardware makers have switched to software ; Think about it. Besides the low salary , Hardware engineers are under more pressure , After mass production, the loss due to design hidden dangers is irreversible .

Software bug Even if there are 100 individual , Just keep updating , Hardware has 1 individual bug That's the end of it , Be magnified infinitely , Irreversible , This is the essential difference .

In addition, software engineers, unless they are architects , Generally, if you are proficient in 1-3 A language is enough , Hardware engineers need to master a wide range of knowledge and skills , Products in different fields and industries , Its requirements vary greatly , Dealing with industrial design , Know how to select materials and purchase （ Expired materials , Counterfeit goods , It will kill you ）, To do all kinds of certification and rigorous tests （ It drives people crazy ）.

Keep reducing costs , Increase endurance , Be familiar with production , Write process documents （ It takes a lot of time ）, Optimization of various non quantifiable indexes in the design stage , All kinds of hidden interference 、 Unreasonable wiring, etc . Sometimes it takes more than half a day to fix a board when you have a problem , It takes more time to encounter problems that are not easy to reproduce .

Chip iterations are fast , You have to keep absorbing 、 Trial and error , Strategic adjustment of the company ,10 There are three projects that you can do 1-2 Mass production is already good .

Smell rosin every day , The increasing thickness of glasses , This is where hardware engineers come from .

Hardware engineer is a grounded profession , He needs you to hone and accumulate , Prosperity of industry , I think this career will return to its due value .

author ： A man with a little common sense  

link ： 

https://www.zhihu.com/question/334571216/answer/82291698

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