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Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

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Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#291

Post by escapedmoose »

Ancapistani wrote: post #153
memset wrote: post #66

I am actively looking to hire - either freelance or full-time - an engineer to write open source golang code for my YC startup. However, I literally cannot afford FAANG salaries at my stage. It would literally bring my runway from n to n/5 years. And many candidates are asking for 400k+ salaries. I’d love to hire someone who knows what they’re doing but I’m just not able to find people who are both qualified and inte…

> And many candidates are asking for 400k+ salaries. I don’t understand this. Yes, for some engineers, in some roles, in some locations it makes sense - but that’s a tiny part of the overall market. I’m 40, live in a rural area in a Southern US state, and have right at twenty years’ experience. I’ve worked a big companies, have been the first tech hire at a startup, and have specialized somewhat in healthtech. I feel…

You’re what I hope to be in 10 years! Glad to hear it’s working out for you

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#292

Post by gamblor956 »

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

Sure, for niche roles, but not for web developers or app developers. If you want to make 200k+ at a big bank, it's because you have specialized programming experience/skills.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#293

Post by devwastaken »

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…

Software is about creating automation. Automation is never about increasing costs over existing methods. It is in the end about scaling up. If the system had to have just as many more people to scale it wouldn't be worth it. Therefore devs are scaling themselves out of work.

It's a natural outcome of mega corps and the laws designed to allow them to be mega. Business size should be limited and most tech intellectual property invalidated. That way the devs that can't get hired by the existing market can create new markets.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#294

Post by carlmr »

memset wrote: post #66

I am actively looking to hire - either freelance or full-time - an engineer to write open source golang code for my YC startup. However, I literally cannot afford FAANG salaries at my stage. It would literally bring my runway from n to n/5 years. And many candidates are asking for 400k+ salaries. I’d love to hire someone who knows what they’re doing but I’m just not able to find people who are both qualified and inte…

>because I am not able to find a partner to build things with who is willing to work for less than what they made after 10 years at Google.

Are you looking for a salaried employee or a partner. A partner would share your vision, but get a significant portion of the company. A salaried engineer doesn't have an upside if and when your company takes off.

It could change the dynamics a lot.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#296

Post by zahllos »

blibble wrote: post #186
memset wrote: post #66

I am actively looking to hire - either freelance or full-time - an engineer to write open source golang code for my YC startup. However, I literally cannot afford FAANG salaries at my stage. It would literally bring my runway from n to n/5 years. And many candidates are asking for 400k+ salaries. I’d love to hire someone who knows what they’re doing but I’m just not able to find people who are both qualified and inte…

this is no different to me wanting a Bugatti Chiron for $20,000 compromise: you'd be able to hire some of the top engineers in the world that live in Europe at half that salary or accept your business isn't viable and fold

Even in Switzerland, one of the most expensive places in Europe, I would consider 150k USD to be a good deal - and I'd have to pay all the tax and social insurance parts out of that too (I have a company).

For 125k in almost any other country on the continent you'd be extremely competitive, if not beating, any local offer.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#297

Post by ptero »

datavirtue wrote: post #271
ptero wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

I didn't claim that the cause of the problem was with manufacturing capacity.

But if the US didn't have implicit price controls ("just try raising prices 3x at this time of national need, you will regret it" from politicians), the deficits would have resolved in a week. My 2c.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#298

Post by thelastparadise »

resource_waste wrote: post #239
rlawson wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha! I have a son who is a radiologist and what docs have to go through makes the worst sprint of your life look like a walk in the park. And they train that hard for years . Patients can die if he messes up. The worst thing when I mess up is the product is a few days late. I have been coding for 25 years, make half of what he does and he deserves every penny of the difference.

I used to make airbags. People could die if I mess up. Heck, literally hundreds of thousands of people. (see Takata) One time, I saw someone cook raw chicken at a restaurant. A $10 an hour worker can cause people to die if they mess up. Don't let the Physician cartel make you think they have some magical powers because they have the AMA and ACGME working to limit the supply of Physicians. The fact that you are treate…

> One time, I saw someone cook raw chicken at a restaurant.

Isn't cooking just what you're supposed to do with raw chicken?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#299

Post by gorjusborg »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #269
rangestransform wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Meanwhile, boring old stuff like manufacturing was starved for programmers, and eventually gave up trying to get them. If you wanted to be fully honest, you would have said that they couldn't pony up for programmers, they were only “starved” by their own penny pinching ways.

In many cases it could truly be that programmers aren't worth enough for them to pony up. It isn't that they're being cheap. It's that it doesn't make financial sense. There are plenty of contexts where programmers are useful but still only worth "normal" salaries.

Or, perhaps many companies do not know how to leverage software to make money.

I suspect there are many of those sorts out there, and if they do have developers on staff, it makes sense to let them go.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#300

Post by ecoquant »

mech422 wrote: post #104
coffeebeqn wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long have you been in the software market? 2008 was terrible and dot com for a while was also a death knell. If anything the last 15 years have been absolutely amazing for working in software

yeah - its hard to remember how many people out there haven't seen a 'down' market before. 2008 was literally 16 years ago... Anyway, I'll take today's economy over the dot com bust, the early 2000 off-shoring craze, and 2008 recession..

Nasdaq returns by year

2002 -37.58

2001 -32.65

2000 -36.84

The people that think this is bad, can't imagine what 2002 was like when the all time high in the Nasdaq was a few days ago.

Hate to break it to everyone but the good times are right now.

The next decade we should see a massive deflationary force from software being so much cheaper to create.

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