20 Years Coding for Under €2,500 a Month

Subcontracted software: 20 years of experience, less than €2,500

Working harder yields no rewards. Behind this bar-room adage lies an unpoetic arithmetic: when responsibilities grow but salaries stagnate, reducing effort becomes the only rational response. The case that sparked this conversation illustrates this plainly.

A small software development firm operates as a subcontractor for a large consultancy, which in turn executes projects for public administration. Three layers of intermediaries strip away margins before the money reaches the programmers. The firm's development lead, with nearly 20 years of experience, earns less than €2,500 per month. Many engineers earn under €2,000 across 12 payments. At these rates, hiring quality talent is impossible: there is no budget.

Project funds never reaching the programmers

The business structure explains much. Public budgets leave government coffers, pass through a large consultancy, and arrive, already diminished, at the subcontractor providing the developers. Each link adds its margin and management layer. What remains is insufficient to pay anyone well.

The manager’s account is explicit: there is no budget for raises, and without competitive salaries, attracting talent is impossible. It is a self-sealing circle.

Why do people do the minimum?

Because doing more brings no benefit. The pattern repeats in testimonies: employees covering for departed colleagues, including task redistribution, with zero salary increases. When this persists, the reaction is not heroic. It is to throttle back. Do just enough. Fulfill the job description without breaking a back for recognition that never arrives.

A nuance dispels the lazy-worker myth: demotivation stems not from laziness, but from the absence of a horizon. The promise of a raise, however modest, sustains effort. When that promise vanishes—or never existed—the incentive evaporates. Those who stay no longer compete to advance; they compete to avoid burnout.

Good staff leave, and vacancies go unfilled

Several forum users describe the same sequence: an employee requests a raise, is denied, insists, and eventually resigns. Then comes the late counter-offer, which—according to accounts—almost no one accepts. In one reported case, the project collapsed because it relied on a single person, and no replacement was planned.

Meanwhile, the antiestéticar of firing underperformers blocks any adjustment. The manager’s argument is that the devil you know is better than the good you don’t, especially when hiring is costly and budgets are tight. The result, per testimonies: competent staff carry double the load, while low performers remain on the payroll. This asymmetry—the punished good worker, the protected bad one—acts as the team’s great demotivator.

Salaries that fail comparison

The figures in the thread depict a depressing scale. A worker with no formal education earns the minimum wage, €1,160 net in 12 payments. An administrative clerk earns around €1,550. A graduate with a master’s degree earns about €1,900. An engineer in Madrid earns around €2,200. The gap between years of specialized training and no training shrinks to a few hundred euros.

• Minimum wage (no education): €1,160 net per month
• Administrative clerk: €1,550 net per month
• Graduate with master’s: €1,900 net per month
• Engineer in Madrid: €2,200 net per month

With these differentials, the message to anyone considering a technical degree is devastating. The minimum wage dangerously approaches the salary of those with years of specialized training, and this compression does not self-correct.

Housing, income tax, and the disorienting calculation

Adding to this is the cost of living where jobs are located. Some note that none of these salaries afford housing in high-demand areas, and monthly withholding taxes take between €300 and €500 from each paycheck.

The income tax (IRPF) comparison also surfaced. A user citing simulators calculated that, for a €40,000 salary, Bizkaia pays around €2,500 less annually than Madrid, and that in the €30,000 to €60,000 bracket, the Basque Country fares better than its fruta suggests. These fine calculations, not general discourse, drive the scrutiny of where working compensates.

Is a trade worth more than a degree?

The most repeated conclusion in the final part is uncomfortable for those who invested years in a degree. Some openly regret studying a degree instead of a trade, while others argue that today, electricians, plumbers, or carpenters live better than engineers. For some participants, these trades appear more attractive than poorly paid office jobs.

Given these factors, it is reasonable to expect more people reducing their pace to the minimum required and higher turnover among those still employable. The prediction allows for surprises: if the cycle tightens and subcontractors can no longer redeploy anyone, even the calculation to stay quiet may cease to make sense.