If you have to gain all these other "soft skills" or business skills in order to just be a regular software engineer, then why keep working for someone else? One of the main reasons for being an employee is because it's (supposed to be) both easier and safer than striking out on your own. Instead of long hours and having to wear many hats, you can just concentrate on your own skill, and leave the business stuff to the people who specialize in that. Anyone familiar with the idea of specialized labor should understand this. The downside is (supposed to be) your pay is lower than it could potentially be by owning and operating your own business. If today's corporations want their regular rank-and-file employees to wear many hats, be multi-talented, and have a lot of business skills, then they're simply not doing their own jobs correctly. - Grishnakh (Slashdot user)
