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Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

blog.pragmaticengineer.com

71–80 of 279 posts

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#71

Yet there is no let up in diluting software engineering labor pool with thousands of H1Bs amidst the already distressed labor market from American job seeker perspective.

This is so backwards it’s incredible. If H1Bs were so destructive to the software industry, why would the software industry, which has the highest prevalence of H1Bs, be the industry with the highest growth in salaries for basically the past 2 decades? Also, the idea that eliminating H1Bs will bring more jobs makes absolutely no sense. If a company is asked to eliminate all their H1B positions, what do you think is m…

I believe the American public’s appetite to disincentivize and tax the American companies that ship jobs overseas while simultaneously benefiting from the protection, infrastructure and US government contracts directly or indirectly will only increase in the coming years.

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That should change by tomorrow. The EEOC is going to crack down on companies cheating H-1B and posting ghost positions: https://x.com/USTechWorkers/status/1892771344540193076

Any H1B related postings are a tiny fraction of the postings by recruiters and recruitment agencies trying to build up their databases, and companies wanting to look like they’re continuing to grow.

I follow this topic closely and I disagree that it is a tiny fraction.

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#73
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good point. I used to work at a SF startup before the FAANG about 4-5 years back. All the engineers there have unfortunately been replaced with those in LATAM too. LATAM engineers were making like $80-$90K in USD, which is apparently really good money there, whereas US engineer asked for base pay twice that. So it seems like a win-win deal for the cofounders and LATAM engineers. Just not so great for those o…

This was unsurprising when American employees decided to use the significant power they gained over the pandemic to insist on WFH. Whether working collaboratively in an office was beneficial or not, employers certainly believed it to be so. They believed it so much that employers, pre pandemic, were willing to hire employees a single time zone away from SF, and then pay them a significant one time amount along with a…

That doesn't explain why many execs were keen on RTO. If it was reducing costs, you would thing they would've wanted to draw out WFH for as long as possible. But there a clear rush to end WFH as soon as possible and implement unilateral mandates to get everyone back to office.

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#76

Kind of strange to see no mention of outsourcing in an otherwise detailed analysis

Hailing from a popular outsourcing destination I can attest to the fact that layoffs happened here as well, but now the same people are being rehired for 10-15% less. No growth whatsoever though.

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#77
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was unsurprising when American employees decided to use the significant power they gained over the pandemic to insist on WFH. Whether working collaboratively in an office was beneficial or not, employers certainly believed it to be so. They believed it so much that employers, pre pandemic, were willing to hire employees a single time zone away from SF, and then pay them a significant one time amount along with a…

That doesn't explain why many execs were keen on RTO. If it was reducing costs, you would thing they would've wanted to draw out WFH for as long as possible. But there a clear rush to end WFH as soon as possible and implement unilateral mandates to get everyone back to office.

I'm the end the point is : if it can be done anywhere it will be done anywhere else

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any H1B related postings are a tiny fraction of the postings by recruiters and recruitment agencies trying to build up their databases, and companies wanting to look like they’re continuing to grow.

I follow this topic closely and I disagree that it is a tiny fraction.

BLS says there are 140,000 of new job postings for sw engs annually. DOL stats show ~120,000 PERM applications (for which job postings are required - they're not required for H1Bs), of which probably only 20% are for software engineers. So 30,000 / 140,000 - ~21%. Pretty small fraction.

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#79
post #42

Kind of strange to see no mention of outsourcing in an otherwise detailed analysis

I don't mean to spread FUD, but as an interviewer at a FAANG in the US, I have mostly been interviewing candidates in LATAM (Brazil and Mexico). Same for some of my other coworkers. It's happening, and happening fast.

It's been happening for half a century or so.

The boring reality is that the price of labor roughly reflects the productivity companies typically get. Because if there is ever some clear win in some location, people start hiring there, and things start to balance out again.

Re: Software engineering job openings hit five-year low?

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our company just let go of all our remote LATAM hires. We paid high end in their LCOL areas. They were somewhere between ok and not good. Felt like we got about what we paid for - their cost was about 50% of a US dev. They were as productive as a low end US dev, so in some cases ok value but since hiring low performers tends to hurt a team overall they weren’t worth it. We’re a mid range company (decent cash comp, no…

Y'all hiring in NA? I'm a Senior dev looking for a role!

lol was going to ask the same
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