This data suggests average salaries for engineers outside software engineering were not much different from software engineering.
Average salaries don’t tell you about job prospects; I know several aerospace engineers who became software engineers because they couldn’t find a job in aerospace, but don’t know any with the reverse story. (Contrast to people moving between Texas and California, where I know several who moved in each direction, which tells you the two states are somewhat competitive, unlike Alaska and California, where I only know people who moved in one direction.)
As you bring up next, probably more importantly to Thiel’s analysis are billionaire prospects. That is, a software engineer could reasonably expect to have a narrow shot at making a mountain of cash and a company with a global brand; the last time an aerospace engineer could have that expectation was probably 50 years ago.
Average salaries don’t tell you about job prospects; I know several aerospace engineers who became software engineers because they couldn’t find a job in aerospace, but don’t know any with the reverse story. (Contrast to people moving between Texas and California, where I know several who moved in each direction, which tells you the two states are somewhat competitive, unlike Alaska and California, where I only know people who moved in one direction.)
As you bring up next, probably more importantly to Thiel’s analysis are billionaire prospects. That is, a software engineer could reasonably expect to have a narrow shot at making a mountain of cash and a company with a global brand; the last time an aerospace engineer could have that expectation was probably 50 years ago.