We're so lucky to be in an industry where our biggest problem is too many people trying to hire us. Thank god I'm not an auto worker.
if i'm in a chatty mood, i can even get insider information from these casual conversations like how fast these companies are growing and what technology they use behind the scenes. when companies hire recruiters, this information is leaked out. they know this; that's part of the dance to attract talent.
this information then can be used in my own interviews with people i'm trying to hire. see how that works? it's almost as if we're competing in a market. let's call it.... the labor market.
good recruiters are highly active in this back and forth, that's how they make their living. bad ones just send shitty emails and give out info without producing/capturing any value themselves.
the thing most engineers don't understand is that in a business context, everything in your environment can be used to your advantage, if you just figure out how. even annoying emails. i'm not saying i've figured it all out, but this is definitely one obvious thing that everyone who runs a company or even a small team is aware of.
and that's why most people don't run startups. they'd rather sit there and be annoyed at things and write passive aggressive emails to people who won't even read them. LOL you might as well write something similar up and send it to the guy who sends the penis pills or oxycontin emails also. make sure you make those nice check boxes too! he's going to give just about as much of a shit.
furthermore, 80/20 rule applies and a simple set of procmail filters can get rid of the vast majority of recruiter emails. there's only a few dozen firms that do this sort of thing at any any appreciable scale. but really, you should be reading these emails too, if you give a shit about the industry you work in
to me this just sounds like faux-annoyance / ego tripping on how in-demand our field currently is. it won't last forever. i know because i've lived through 2 downturns already.