1) We're expensive (at least for Poland, I can aim for ~6-8k PLN monthly after few years of experience. Other, even civil/mech engineers will have around 4-6k monthly with similar experience) [edit: and minimal wage is 3.5k after taxes]
2) It appears to be replaceable (you can replace us with LLMs to an extent, you can't do that with other jobs)
It's not software engineers per se. It's any labor component that is expensive and "automate"-able. Companies are always trying to optimize labor costs. The theoretical Holy Grail is a company that requires 0 labor input where all profits accrue to the owner of the business.
That's just business 101.
I'd anticipate a concerted effort to make LLMs better and batter at software development tasks until you only need the top 0.5% of developers and maybe a few technicians to support them. That's how you juice profitability.
But the high salaries are just a question of supply and demand, because for 20 or so years there was always a need for more programmers (well, at least senior ones). Reduced demand should naturally be reflected by reduced salaries (or benefits).
the margins in software companies/industry is large.
Margins, are never large enough for a certain class of owners. That's the unfortunate reality. No one at an average board meeting is gonna say, "Hey guys, let's stay at this 40% margin level instead of going to 60%!"
1) We're expensive (at least for Poland, I can aim for ~6-8k PLN monthly after few years of experience. Other, even civil/mech engineers will have around 4-6k monthly with similar experience) [edit: and minimal wage is 3.5k after taxes]
2) It appears to be replaceable (you can replace us with LLMs to an extent, you can't do that with other jobs)