Information Technology Reference
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was not making calls to specific people by name, merely to the programming of-
fice space in the hope of attracting other programmers.
These early days of software engineering were exciting and fun in retrospect.
The programming and software occupations were growing so fast that software
departments were doubling in size in less than a year. So many jobs were available
and turnover was rapid.
Programmers could easily get a 15% salary increase just by changing jobs. Ten-
ure in jobs often was no more than a year. Some programmers worked for half a
dozen companies in their first five years after learning to program.
Most programming jobs paid well and also had medical benefits and pension
plans, and some had stock options, too. Another minor perk from those early days
was that programmers could eat in executive dining rooms instead of employee
cafeterias if they wished to. Some companies had other perks such as gymnasium
memberships.
Other perks may surprise modern software engineers. Even entry-level pro-
grammers had moving expenses paid for by the company if they needed to move
from another location. For experienced personnel on their second or third jobs,
these moving expenses also included brokerage fees on selling homes, shipment
of furniture to the new location (including automobiles), and being put up in a cor-
porate apartment or hotel for perhaps a month after arrival at the new job location.
In fact, some companies would even purchase programmers' old homes so the
employees did not have to bother with real estate transactions prior to starting their
new jobs. Upon purchasing a new home, all of the fees for turning on utilities
would be paid by the company.
Some companies paid programmers a “settling in” allowance for expenses such
as new drapes or having a new house painted. In order to not have these payments
be counted as taxable income, they were booked as loans to the employees, but
they had zero interest rates and never had to be repaid.
In retrospect, it is surprising that the IRS did not try to tax some of these perks
because in total their value could top $100,000. However, for some reason, com-
panies in the 1960s had perks for programmers that were not taxable.
The attitude among programmers in those early days was that the companies
needed the programmers more than the programmers needed the companies. It was
fun to be part of this era of rapid expansion and novel applications.
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