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I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

cushychicken.github.io

381–390 of 927 posts

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Someone boycotting AMZN one day will be happy to accept a very healthy salary + benefits package writing legacy Java 6 backend code if it means a good double- or triple-digit percentage in compensatory promotion Unlikely these are the same people tbh

It could simply be extremely small sample size, but I know 5 (!!) people personally who fall into this intersection. All of them are quite talented. All jumped ship from meh-paying start-ups to a high-paying role at AMZN after railing on AMZN the years prior for being an awful company. One of them even took a department leadership role (or whatever the title equivalent is) and cited a 3x increase in TC. It could be t…

I don't think it has to be one or the other. I know people who wouldn't work at certain companies and a lot who are working at those companies while holding their nose to get their paychecks.

Turns out financial + lifestyle security is a good antiethical motivator

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was quite satisfied with the position I was in at the last two companies I left. All the things you mention matter to me, but I added 50% to my salary on my first jump, then another 110% on my second. All in just over a year. Money is still my primary driver. It will be until I am fully financially independent. Not just able to live on a FIRE budget of $30k a year, but able to chase my own fairly expensive interest…

How many years of experience do you have?

At least one it seems.

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#383

Purely anecdotal: In my experience as a hiring manager seeing trends change over the past 10 years, and selecting from the top 10% of candidates by some vague metric, it's primarily about "does it pay a lot" and secondarily "does it offer full-remote"? A lot of my friends, former colleagues, and candidates I've failed to hire end up going to either a FAANG or a very successful brand-name company (typically a SV compa…

Re: Amazon, I think most of other faang or establishing growing company employees usually don't even response to amazon recruiter which seriously limits their capability to hire even if the comp was going to be very high, there is no way to convey the pay increase they'd get until they respond.

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#384
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. AWS really wants to hire me as another cog. I’ll pass.

AWS didn’t want to hire me as a cog. I was mildly insulted.

Maybe you didnt STAR hard enough to be considered a dedicated, fanatic cog :)

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#385

Purely anecdotal: In my experience as a hiring manager seeing trends change over the past 10 years, and selecting from the top 10% of candidates by some vague metric, it's primarily about "does it pay a lot" and secondarily "does it offer full-remote"? A lot of my friends, former colleagues, and candidates I've failed to hire end up going to either a FAANG or a very successful brand-name company (typically a SV compa…

Any chance you can say where you work? Because that sounds kind of like a dream job to me, haha.

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#386
post #8

There comes a point where the money just isn't a motivating factor anymore, and companies are struggling to figure out how to work in that environment. This bit from the author hits the nail on the head: >Is an extra $10k per year worth learning a new org, a new skillset, a new set of expectations, a new set of coworkers, and a new boss? For many engineers, the answer is: “No.” Yes I could quit and get a ~20k raise b…

That is how I feel as well. Sure I could increase my salary if I switched jobs and industry (like finance), but do I want to? The recruiter kept harassing me because he could not understand why I would not want to earn 30k more a year. Like you, I also do not have kids, so that makes things much simpler.

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#387
post #87

The article is concise but missing a lot of real-life examples: * The highest paying software companies employ LeetCode style interview. That is off-putting to a lot of people even though the money would be super sweet to have. * Some wannabe startups also employ LeetCode style interview even though they don't pay anywhere near FAANG/Unicorns. * You know what's worst than LeetCode style interview? LeetCode style inte…

Can you define PIP, please?

Performance Improvement Plan https://www.perkbox.com/uk/resources/blog/a-complete-guide-t...

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#388
post #317
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would posit that the OP underestimates the impact of his second point: remote-first in a covid world opened up a large swath of opportunities to get very large total compensation bumps everywhere. I'm part of a slack group comprised of ex-employees of a company I used to work at and some folks there expressed that it is entirely feasible to land jobs today that pay a full 100-200k over their current or previous com…

It also opened the door to get more offshoring, why pay SV salaries when they can pay Infosys rates (pick your favourite offshoring company name).

While this is true and there are some good contractors to be found in that bucket, I’d say we are bound to rediscover the lesson that you mostly get what you pay for… minus cultural and language barriers.

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#389
post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Healthcare, 30 paid holidays, unions, paid overtime, weekends and calls off work come extra (it is 40h week period, want more pay for it), retirement, flex time, ... If you are in your 20's, it is totally worth moving to the US where you can get paid 500K+ per year if you navigate your career efficiently. I posit that making this much money more than covers any of these additional expenses that you call out.

Anyone here earning $500k in their 20s like this person suggests? I’m sure some can but this is not the norm and expectations need to be checked and called out when wrong.

I recently hit six figures at 20. By far not the norm.

Re: I think I know why you can't hire engineers right now

#390
post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Healthcare, 30 paid holidays, unions, paid overtime, weekends and calls off work come extra (it is 40h week period, want more pay for it), retirement, flex time, ... If you are in your 20's, it is totally worth moving to the US where you can get paid 500K+ per year if you navigate your career efficiently. I posit that making this much money more than covers any of these additional expenses that you call out.

Anyone here earning $500k in their 20s like this person suggests? I’m sure some can but this is not the norm and expectations need to be checked and called out when wrong.

Most of the devs at prop trading companies in Chicago or New York will hit 500k/yr after a few years if they can hack it and stomach it. Depending on how close to the money they are, it could be 2-6 years.
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