DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends • Hacker News Board

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#31

Post by emdowling » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:45 AM UTC

bonjourmr wrote: post #11

Do you know what is a real shame? This statistic doesn't really correlate with the highest quality output. Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use. Our digital landscape is quite conservative & somewhat arguably boring, consisting of mainly traditional finance/banking & insurance - and we all know how these companies work internally (digital as a cost centre). Don't get…

Couldn’t agree with this post more. I left Australia 6 years ago and work for a FAANG earning 5x-7x in London than I would in Australia as a PM.

Most Australian tech companies are mundane and boring. They lack ambition because the base quality of life is just so damn good.

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#32

Post by threeseed » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:46 AM UTC

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #17

shric wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair we have it far easier in Sydney than over in Silicon Valley. For example most (but not all) Sydney Googlers choose to stay in Sydney even though they have the chance to relocate to e.g. Mountain View or Sunnyvale for more than double the comp. This is because of the work life balance and culture here in Sydney compared to over there. (I worked at Google Sydney for 5 years)

What are the differences in W/L balance and culture between SV and Sydney?

Apart from Sydney having almost perfect weather and being one of the most stunning cities in the world there are the political aspects.

Free healthcare, basically no gun crime, far less polarisation, more family friendly, far less homeless, a more successful multiculturalism environment, strong societal bonds i.e. we were able to get most of the country to agree to large scale lockdowns and mask wearing.

Mateship and community are embedded in the DNA of the country whereas in the US it's freedom and individuality. And those different styles permeate through everything.

But then S/V has the incredible IT and startup community which is unparalleled anywhere in the world.

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#33

Post by InvertedRhodium » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:46 AM UTC

bonjourmr wrote: post #11

Do you know what is a real shame? This statistic doesn't really correlate with the highest quality output. Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use. Our digital landscape is quite conservative & somewhat arguably boring, consisting of mainly traditional finance/banking & insurance - and we all know how these companies work internally (digital as a cost centre). Don't get…

> Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use.

What's the definition of 'good use' here?

I've had plenty of offers to go work in the US but have always chosen to remain closer to my family and maintain an enjoyable work/life balance while still being able to travel internationally for projects as required.

I'd consider that an excellent use of my skills, though I admit a certain amount of bias.

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#34

Post by bonjourmr » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:46 AM UTC

SilverRed wrote: post #24

bonjourmr wrote: post #11

Do you know what is a real shame? This statistic doesn't really correlate with the highest quality output. Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use. Our digital landscape is quite conservative & somewhat arguably boring, consisting of mainly traditional finance/banking & insurance - and we all know how these companies work internally (digital as a cost centre). Don't get…

>Most of the good devs with half an inkling go overseas No they don't. Because not everything is about money. Life in Australia is just better than some war zone in California.

I agree personally that it's not about money, but It's an individual scale I guess

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#35

Post by ggm » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:47 AM UTC

I'm doing my best to drag the scores back. After all, regressiom tends to the mean.

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#36

Post by InvertedRhodium » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:47 AM UTC

emdowling wrote: post #31

bonjourmr wrote: post #11

Do you know what is a real shame? This statistic doesn't really correlate with the highest quality output. Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use. Our digital landscape is quite conservative & somewhat arguably boring, consisting of mainly traditional finance/banking & insurance - and we all know how these companies work internally (digital as a cost centre). Don't get…

Couldn’t agree with this post more. I left Australia 6 years ago and work for a FAANG earning 5x-7x in London than I would in Australia as a PM. Most Australian tech companies are mundane and boring. They lack ambition because the base quality of life is just so damn good.

> They lack ambition because the base quality of life is just so damn good.

Do you really see this as a negative?

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#37

Post by DoreenMichele » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:49 AM UTC

shric wrote: post #29

nl wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the comment this way too, but the OP is actually agreeing with you. They are saying that Silicon Valley salaries are much higher than Sydney, and the cost of living in SV isn't anywhere near double (as you point out, it's probably cheaper than Sydney).

I'm sure SF is more expensive, not sure about Mountain View, Palo Alto, etc.

Indices Difference

Info

Consumer Prices in San Francisco, CA are 7.55% higher than in Sydney (without rent)

Consumer Prices Including Rent in San Francisco, CA are 39.86% higher than in Sydney

Rent Prices in San Francisco, CA are 91.12% higher than in Sydney

Restaurant Prices in San Francisco, CA are 22.48% higher than in Sydney

Groceries Prices in San Francisco, CA are 18.67% higher than in Sydney

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...

You are correct and other cities can be checked if anyone cares to do so.

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#38

Post by girvo » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:51 AM UTC

bonjourmr wrote: post #11

Do you know what is a real shame? This statistic doesn't really correlate with the highest quality output. Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use. Our digital landscape is quite conservative & somewhat arguably boring, consisting of mainly traditional finance/banking & insurance - and we all know how these companies work internally (digital as a cost centre). Don't get…

> Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use.

I'm curious what you mean by this, and didn't get a full picture from the sentences afterwards.

I might not work in B2C "world changing" stuff, but the work I have done over the past decade runs infrastructure that the actual world is changed by. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean, which is likely.

Edit: Well, I guess I said something wrong. Disparaging an entire country's developers as "never really getting to put their skills to good use" is acceptable, but pointing out that that simply isn't the case universally, and being proud of the work I've done isn't.

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#39

Post by koyote » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:52 AM UTC

shric wrote: post #4

> Switzerland $95,753 Australia $85,167 Denmark $73,017 United States $71,858 This is a bit misleading taken at face value as the US has loads of smaller cities with far lower cost of living whereas almost all of Australia's software jobs are in Sydney, Melbourne and smaller capitals. The Silicon Valley wages are at least twice as good as Sydney and nowhere near a proportional cost of living increase.

Those salary numbers seem a bit wrong in general.

The UK value translates to just above £29k as an average annual salary. That might just about be an average annual new graduate starting salary across the whole of the UK, but even there it seems low. In terms of all software engineers it is most definitely off by several grand.

Re: DevSkiller IT skills report 2021: Demand and hiring trends

#40

Post by dkjaudyeqooe » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 5:53 AM UTC

SilverRed wrote: post #24

bonjourmr wrote: post #11

Do you know what is a real shame? This statistic doesn't really correlate with the highest quality output. Most of them who stay put in Australia never really get to put their skills to good use. Our digital landscape is quite conservative & somewhat arguably boring, consisting of mainly traditional finance/banking & insurance - and we all know how these companies work internally (digital as a cost centre). Don't get…

>Most of the good devs with half an inkling go overseas No they don't. Because not everything is about money. Life in Australia is just better than some war zone in California.

That's extremely subjective. It's entirely dependent on what your preferences are. Even an objective comparison cannot account for individual tastes.