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Techie Pay Approaches All-time High
Stony Stevenson sent in this ITNews story which opens, "Techies were paid nearly record-high hourly wages in the third quarter, according to a new report released Thursday by staffing firm Yoh. Based on data compiled from 75 Yoh field offices and 5,000 technology professionals contracted in short and long-term projects, pay increased an average of more than 5.5 percent for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to the same period last year."
Oil and most other necessities are also at record highs.
The first IT bubble taught us one thing: what's a good idea and what's a bad idea. Now that we figured that out, a second wave of technology money is washing over the world, only this time it's slower, more calculated, and less dumb. With articles all over the place saying that kids aren't getting into IT anymore, salaries will keep going up for skilled tech-savvy individuals who can get the job done.
The experimentation is over folks, it's time to get some real work done, and get paid handsomely for it since we are NOT a dime a dozen.
I'm god, but it's a bit of a drag really...
People forget that each H1-B visa lasts for basically 7 years. And that the limits were wildly expanded during the dot-com boom. Starting in 2000, they went from 65,000 to 130,000. And this continued well after the dot-com bust had happened. It was only in 2004 that the limits went back down to 65,000.
Since this limit wasn't expanded this year (yet), that means lots of H1-Bs are starting to go home. This is why all of the visas that were issued in April were gobbled up in a single day. And none of this is something that you'll see in the mainstream press.
So a lot of H1-B's are going home this year. The local labor market WILL get tighter, and wages WILL rise.
If the limits aren't expanded this year, it's unlikely they'll be expanded next year either, as that's a major election year.
If Hillary Clinton is elected though (which seems likely), you can expect them to again be doubled, as she's been aggressively promoting their expansion, even on her current website.
So, expect wages to go up, while the H1-B's go home. And enjoy it while it lasts, as it won't last forever.
It's just more proof that H1-B's are all about cheap labor and not about a lack of talent.
If you look at "techie wages" adjusted for the increased price of real estate in places like Silicon Valley, and the lessening of the security of those wages, especially approaching middle age, then you see the real reason why mere propaganda isn't going to draw young people into tech fields ever again.
Seastead this.
Only if you are spending all of your US dollars on merchandise/services produced outside of the U.S.
Or at least most. If you're not spending more than 75% of your income on imports, then you either must live in one of the few places in the United States where Agriculture and manufacturing hasn't been utterly destroyed by imports, or you actually believe "Made in America" means something more than parts created in Mexico & China and shipped here for assembly.
I dare you to find a 100% made in America computer or car.
Or anything else requiring magnets, capacitors, and resistors (none of which are made in America anymore).
Heck- for that matter- I challenge you to find a US Soldier who isn't dependent upon part of his gear made someplace else than America.
For that reason, yes, the falling US dollar is about to make a 2008 $75,000/year paycheck feel like a 1995 $26,000/year paycheck. Good luck continuing to afford your education, for which you need to keep your techie job more than a couple of generations of languages and operating systems, on THAT.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Too bad inflation is at 18%, as measured by the increase in the money supply. 10-15% measured by price increases, if you include the stuff the FED likes to leave out, you know, like housing, fuel, college education, health care, unimportant stuff like that which the average techie doesn't spend much of his income on.
Indirectly, they do. Because resources become more expensive.
The USD is a global currency. Thus, you don't feel it as directly as another country when it goes down in inflation. But when some large market isn't affected by the same inflation, like China or even more so the EU, since their market is not as tightly tied to the US market as China's, you notice it with prices for resources going up, since they will more easily be able to afford those resources, and, well, supply and demand, their demand increases due to subjectively sinking prices. The price "increases" (for the EU it remains mostly stable, though, since the EUR gets stronger compared to the USD) to match this increased demand, which in turn means that resources become more expensive for the US.
So yes, in a very indirect way, the amount decreases. The amoung of everything. As it was mentioned already, the US production is highly dependent on imports. Imports of resources but also import of goods, both of which become more expensive due to a softer USD.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm a manager at a tech outfit, a fairly large one.
What we are looking for are high end techies, and the wage inflation is due to our desperation to get high end techies - programmers and network admins the like.
A newb trying to get into this field has absolutely NO CHANCE.
Go look at the job ads and see what they're looking for as far as experience is concerned. You can't even meet those requirements with internships.
The wages are rising because America's pool of experienced techies is drying up, and fast. There are few to no new tech 'masters' rising in America; they're all coming from Asia, because that is where all the newb jobs are.
Those H-1 visas are coming here to compete with rock bottom wages, too.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
If you're having that much difficulty staffing your positions, maybe you need to rethink the requirements. You don't need an all-star team to run a tech shop, you really just need one star and a gaggle of willing juniors.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Need I go on? A 5.5% raise is still a 4-7% DECREASE in buying power verses the world economy.
No it doesn't.
A 5.5% raise means you have 5.5% more money.
An 11.1% fall against the Euro means you have 11.1% less purchasing power when buying goods imported from Europe. You're not any "poorer" than they are.
It also means our goods are 11.1% less expensive for Europeans, which means more exports and lessened trade deficit.
Just because our currency lost value against another country's doesn't mean we're now "poorer" than they are.
DATABASE WOW WOW
The actual data indicates that during 2001-2006 tech salaries grew at 1-2% (which is less than inflation), and during 2006-2007 they grew at at 5% (which is more than inflation).
An obvious hypothesis is that the techie market was in disarray following the dotcom meltdown, during which techies lost real (inflation-adjusted) income. But now the market has recovered, and techies are experiencing wage gains faster than inflation because of cyclic recovery and pent-up demand.
Note that techie salaries are still below their Y2001 levels in inflation-adjusted terms. But then again, techie salaries were probably abnormally high during that period.
None of this is really that surprising.
Wait... you are aware that milk prices are set by the government, and are completely unaffected by real inflation, right?
Out-of-pocket expenses that were once the domain of the employer are not only the employee's responsibility now, but they're also at an all-time high. Health insurance for yourself and your family? You have got to be kidding. Too bad I can't tolerate the cold, I'd move to Canada. Or maybe I should move to Mexico, get my Mexican citizenship, and then sneak back in. Then I'd have healthcare.
I fail to see how people can miss it either, fuel, home heating, electricity rates, medical expenses and insurance, etc, all up WAY more than 4,5 or 6 percent over the past year most places. Food in particular people should be prepped for some serious sticker shock at the grocery store and at restaurants after the conclusion of this fall's grains harvest, the US does *not* stockpile grain like it used to to keep prices up. We used to have years worth of reserve, now we have at best a few weeks tops. Weeks. We have no practical backup food supply now, and what is there will be driven by cutthroat mercenary commodities brokers. You will be paying closer to what food really costs "real soon now". The US has had defacto subsidized food for *generations*. Biofuel demand is kicking in, it isn't going away, and the era of cheap food is now officially over, and you won't ever see it again. Never. Fixating on just a few cheaper electronic gadgets and prices is not the whole economy, or even the bulk of where people spend their money. And just wait until the loony tunes end times Armageddon Israel firsters hit Iran, hoo boy howdy you are going to see some price increases once the straits of hormuz are full of flaming tankers and half the middle east has production facilities on fire. Sky is the limit then on prices, as oil goes, so goes the world economy, and we will be seeing between 100 and 200 a barrel prices rippling through the economy in a very short time frame. There is very little "spare" production capacity to make up for the oily triangle flows globally, most places are already maxed out and it takes a long time to get new rigs in place. Even if the middle east is not the US primary source for oil, what oil we do get is still based on global prices, and them boys will get what they ask for it once 50% is taken off the market within a few days. And it's coming. This is going to be an economic tsunami, and those that can read this security ocean's signs will take precautions in advance, because waiting for the surge to hit is not the time to head for higher and safer ground.
An 11.1% fall against the Euro means you have 11.1% less purchasing power when buying goods imported from Europe.
Huh? Doesn't it mean dollar holders lose, in general, 11.1% of their purchasing power for any good that could be sold on the global market?
For example, imagine a world in which you could buy one gold ounce for 1000 dollars, or one gold ounce for 1000 euros. In that case, the exchange rate would probably be 1:1. If the exchange rate were to ever go to 2:1, everyone would instantly have an arbitrage opportunity: Sell 1 gold ounce for 1000 euros, exchange those euros for 2000 dollars, and buy 2 gold ounces, for a profit of 1 gold ounce. But market action like that would quickly drive the exchange ratio back to 1:1.
So, if the exchange ratio were to ever go to 2:1, we could reason that either 1) the new exchange ratio will be short lived or 2) we will see a general price increase of 100%, in terms of dollars, on goods that could be (but will not necessarily be) exchanged on the global market. You seem to be treating the exchange rate as though it is unrelated to domestic prices, but perhaps I don't understand your position.
Since this limit wasn't expanded this year (yet), that means lots of H1-Bs are starting to go home. So a lot of H1-B's are going home this year. The local labor market WILL get tighter, and wages WILL rise.
H-1B extensions are not counted towards the quota. People are going back because there are more growth opportunities in India and getting a Green Card is simply taking too long these days. No one wants to work as a software engineer for 6-10 years anymore just to get a Green Card. In India you can become a senior manager in the same time.
Real estate is down slightly over the last few months, but that's mostly hypothetical--they went so high that our return to sane lending standards has all but eliminated buyers from the market. It'll be some time before sellers resign themselves to accepting prices working class buyers can actually afford. Meanwhile, ARM payments are skyrocketing as the poorly-comprehended rate bumps kick in, and rents are up because so few can buy while foreclosures are turning "owners" back into renters.
Many people are paying more per month and/or settling for less housing, while few are paying less than they were recently.
Just last week they released a study that indicates that the "poor" in the US today have a higher standard of living then the "poor" in the US in the early '70s
-- which is why at minimum wage, you'ld have to work two jobs, and put your wife to work to support 1 or 2 kids. because the standard of living is higher. right.
do you hear yourself?
and all those uninsured people, they must not want insurance - its so much more fun to get cancer and try fighting it off while working that aforementioned two jobs.
but I guess if you have those two jobs, at least you're lucky - how many people are *truly* unemployed? wait, I can't tell anymore because the administration STOPPED INCLUDING PEOPLE WHO WERE CHRONICALLY UNEMPLOYED in the unemployment report. people say, like programmers after the disasters of 2000 and 2001 (or anything else that was outsourced).
Call me up, when *you* wake up.
You're either severely uninformed (or a republican). Sometimes I think those two are synonomous.
And no I'm not a democrat -- but I do think that screwing 40%-60% of your population on a regular basis is a
*really* bad idea for the health of a country.
And don't even get me started on the abuse of illegals, (h1-b, l1-b, or tn-1) visa or migratory workers (e.g. non-citizens)