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Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

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Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#271

Post by datavirtue »

ptero wrote: post #247
rhelz wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was only a shortage because it wasn't a free market, i.e. nobody wanted to make the dick move of raising the price of bread or toilet paper, because it would cause hardship. If the prices had been allowed to rise, supply would have equaled demand very quickly, and the shelves would have been stocked as ever. Of course, some people wouldn't have been able to afford them, so we needed some external, non-market me…

There is no such thing in the US as a truly free market. While rising prices for the toilet paper would have quickly solved the shortage situation it would have elicited the wrath of local and national authorities. And those authorities can make life hell for anyone trying to charge whatever the market will bear.

Toilet paper ran out because inventories are kept to a bare minimum. Big box stores maintain a one day supply to keep inventory turnover tight. It had nothing to do with manufacturing capacity (Russian example).

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#272

Post by gentlesoulcarp »

h02 wrote: post #14

And we're having a hard time finding experienced and skilled engineers... trying to hire for a senior nodejs role, over a thousand applicants (most people just hit apply without reading the description, over half are disqualified for not meeting the basic requirements), dozens interviewed, and we've only managed to hire 1 person that seemed close to being qualified, and he quit after 2 months of barely working. We're…

I’m working on a product that can help regarding the issues you’ve been discussing. Is there an email I can reach you at and we can chat?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#273

Post by ThePowerOfFuet »

shrimp_emoji wrote: post #251
rossdavidh wrote: post #52

So, as a 56yo who's been programming professionally since 2004, currently having trouble finding enough contract work, a bit of perspective: When there are more openings than qualified people, even when you reduce qualifications to what is actually necessary, it seems like there's "nobody" available. Now, when the shoe is on the other foot, it seems like "nobody" is hiring. It's harsh, but it also doesn't take that m…

Saur, ... [0] 0: https://youtu.be/EmT0i0xG6zg

What does that two-hour video have to do with the comment you replied to?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#274

Post by datavirtue »

sangnoir wrote: post #217
comte7092 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it’s much easier to be liberal when doing so doesn’t cost you meaningfully I’d go so far as to say that is almost part and parcel what a “liberal” is almost always

That applies across the board, and I suspect is a personality trait independent of political alignment. I've witnessed people on the right who were against handouts or abortion until they were personally impacted. When there is a real personal cost, a good chunk of people become surprisingly flexible about their politics, or spectacularly fail to resolve the cognitive dissonance and resort to "My circumstances are di…

I have seen people on the left preach about banning guns until they got into an argument with their neighbor and ran over to my house to borrow a shotgun. I still don't know why I let them have it. I never got it back.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#275

Post by rossdavidh »

Solvency wrote: post #175
rossdavidh wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately in a lot of cases, this means they already know who they want to hire, but they're legally required to post the position publicly. Making the requirements for the position match the person they want to hire, allows them to screen out everyone else. The first time this happened to me from the other side, when I was the one who was being selected for, it felt very awkward.

If I run a company and need a developer for a specific position, I am fully legally allowed to simply offer it to someone that I want to hire. Without ever posting a job description.

IANAL but my understanding is that many employers either understand themselves to be required to, or for some other reason the corporation requires it and the department which is hiring does the same thing described, albeit in this case to satisfy internal rules rather than external laws. But clearly this all varies by nation, state, city, industry, etc.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#276

Post by weard_beard »

vaidhy wrote: post #254
rhelz wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was only a shortage because it wasn't a free market, i.e. nobody wanted to make the dick move of raising the price of bread or toilet paper, because it would cause hardship. If the prices had been allowed to rise, supply would have equaled demand very quickly, and the shelves would have been stocked as ever. Of course, some people wouldn't have been able to afford them, so we needed some external, non-market me…

I did not know you can magically start bread making factories at a whim

You can if the price is right.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#278

Post by pdimitar »

randomopining wrote: post #259
gamblor956 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are only a handful of companies in the U.S. willing to pay 200k+ for contract programmers, and these invariably involve highly specialized needs. And if they're in a specialized niche, then their numbers and experience aren't relevant outside of that niche. Note that the parent poster was saying he is a "low level" programmer, meaning close to the hardware, which is niche role. If you know someone claiming to m…

Big banks easily pay 200-300k

What do they need to pay such salaries?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#279

Post by pylua »

rhelz wrote: post #172
pylua wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, do people really believe the unemployment rates, or take them at face value? The real rate of employment is much worse. Not to mention that pay has not kept up with inflation. What would the employment rate look like if it had? Many low paying jobs are being created and since pay has not kept up it is barely a living wage.

> do people really believe the unemployment rates.... When the government measures what it calls the unemployment rate, you might wish that it were measuring what you call the unemployment rate, vs. what it calls the unemployment rate. But at least the government's definition of the unemployment rate hasn't changed, and each time they measure it they are measuring the same thing. So, even if you doubt the absolute nu…

If purchasing power and minimum wage had kept up to pace then unemployment would not be so low.

Though the numbers mean the same they have been artificially influenced by other factors and the ability to measure the economy through unemployment has been nerfed.

Not to mention attrition is higher than the past so the jobs that are being created could be largely recycled.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#280

Post by dukeyukey »

hayst4ck wrote: post #62

I remember being a naive college student and hearing about a "software engineer shortage." I was too young and dumb to understand that meant that the owners of companies that needed software engineers wanted cheaper labor and that I was to play a part in the devaluation of engineering labor by helping supply exceed demand, thereby allowing company owners to commodify software labor to ultimately pay wages proportiona…

> If H1B's were legitimately about labor shortages, it would be required that all companies fire/layoff their H1B's first.

Not necessarily. If I knew the chances of me being able to stay in the US we're that much lower because of that law, I'd be far less likely to apply in the first place, hence worsening the labor shortage.

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