Upside down

I am a programmer. I work for a software development company. Apparently, my employer is a better payer than most other software developement houses in this town. So, according to them, we are getting a very good deal. The only way to get a significant rise in pay is to move to other sectors, banking, etc. As much as this may be true, people are still leaving, and for better terms elsewhere, wherever that may be. In other parts of the world, programmers are among the better paid guys - and they work in shorts. Here, things are the other way round. You'll instantly double or triple your salary if you become an auditor. Why suffer writing code for a living. Of course you'll have to start adorning suits. [It's still beyond me why most other software houses in this town have their employees wearing ties and stuff. At least I can come to work in a T-shit and jeans. One of the little things that make work tolerable]

So. How come the view of the world is so different in these parts. Why do guys tell you to develop some system for them and offer you 5K for it, thinking they've really helped your life. I've already said that what we do isn't rocket science, and we aren't going to find a cure for cancer, but what we do is not very easy either. Here, we are the bottom feeders, at the bottom of the ladder, the foot soldiers.