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Unemployment Hits New High In Silicon Valley
Though there may be some degree of cushion for IT workers in the US generally, Slatterz writes "The steadily climbing unemployment rate in Silicon Valley has reached a shocking four-year high
of 6.6 per cent. Recent statistics indicate that the percentage of unemployed workers in the sunny state of California has increased to 7.7 in August — up from 7.4 per cent in July. Jeffrey Lindsay of Bernstein Research explained that a number of Internet firms were chronically overstaffed."
move to India ;)
MP3 Search Engine
Guess I better stop reading /. and get to work.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
There is still a shortage of qualified IT workers. I get contacted every week or so by recruiters.
These people are not unemployed, they are working at home, preparing Web 3.0!
Do not trust this signature.
How many people have become unemployed and then taken a job at 2/3 of the salary? How many people would like to be employed but not registered as unemployed (e.g. wife/husband still has job)?
How many people put up with crap they'd normally resign over, because of the state of the jobs market. In my experience when unemployment is over 4 or 5% this affects 10 to 15% of the employed too.
Employers are being very picky - they demand an exact skills match. They demand you are already familiar with the exact software package you are using. They're no longer willing to retrain even for permanent roles, or even let you read the manual. It's getting specialized, and IMHO the specialization has got ridiculous. It's no longer enough to be a C++ Programmer for example, if they're hiring a C++ Programmer for Embedded Systems. They can afford to be that fussy. A lot of tech that was popular a few years ago has died out. Don't waste time applying for jobs unless your resume is a perfect match. Instead think about taking some time off to retrain. Java is still in demand for example. Or start your own company. Or switch to something else. IT is fun, I guess, but if you want to make money there are much more lucrative businesses.
OMFG HAR HAR HAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11ROFLLMAO
ZING! ZING!!! You figured out how to get in a dig at Microsoft in a story that has nothing to do with them! In the face of your irrational hatred, surely they'll close up shop and lay off the tens of thousands of people that they employ. Kudos to you, sir!
Are you skilled enough to get a visa?
I am having trouble landing a job after an emergency move to protect my children from child molesters.
do they take into account the people who entered the industry in the recent years and moved to silicon valley or california to work ? its not as if i.t. is a stale field. its one of the most popular choices for youth actually.
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Will Rogers famously said some time in the 1930s during the Great Depression, "A recession is when you neighbor's out of work. A depression is when you're out of work!"
To all of you in Silicon Valley: I hope it's just a recession.
Free Martian Whores!
Well the standard of living cost so much in CA. Why not employ someone who lives in say Texas for $65,000 a year. Rather then pay for someone who lives in CA for $85,000 just so they can afford their standard of living. Who knows maybe everyone can start flipping houses and sell a 1,000 sqft house for 1 million and change.... Oh wait that market crashed too.
I smoked pot once. But I DID NOT inhale. Will you hire me?
there was an ad once, in a major turkish newspaper for a mechanical engineer.
They required that the applicant should have a BS, MS in mechanical engineering in an obscure field, that the applicant knew excellent Russian, English, Turkish and Arabic, s/he didnt have any issues with traveling and the list went on.
The only thing missing in requirements was an astronaut certification.
The ad became famous.
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they also required 5-10 years experience.
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IT workers are cushioned from the US economic downturn.
Wait a minute, didn't this happen already in 2001?
My advice: learn how to fail on Wall Street and ensure a massive golden parachute for yourself
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
But I thought that IT Workers Cushioned From US Economic Downturn. I mean, I read it on Slashdot just a few days ago!
-JS
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity...
There are plenty of jobs in the midwest. Quit your bitching and move. California ain't that beautiful anyway.
I just know, that with enough free time, I will be the one to take down Exchange Server! That's right, ME! I can DO it!.
First, I'm going to toss out all that stuff that nobody uses, because essentially, we are talking EMAIL here, right?
And now that I am unemployed, I don't have to waste my weed money on CalTrain, bitches!
Lets see who is going to top the list. Last I heard, MINN has something like 6.8% unemployment and climbing. Looks like the food lines will soon be forming out there in the beach-o-plenty state...
All content in this message is copyright (c) 2008. All rights reserved. RIAA is prohibited here.
This is an interesting problem that I've seen repeated almost every place I've been (caveat: I'm a contractor). Businesses often take the approach that if IT's broken, it must be due to a lack of staffing either in skills or numbers. In reality, often IT is broken due to a lack of decision making prowess in upper management. IT is treated as a toy box and milestones and scope are like melting jell-o in terms of their definition and stability. Not getting the result you personally want out of IT? No problem, hire the next guy through the door that talks a good talk. In the end, IT is the one area that suffers the greatest harm due to 'too many cooks in the kitchen' and as such, 'this'. I hate to say it, but IT needs to bleed a little bit if order is to return.
I tell ya, its the bomb.
I think unemployment is the point of the spear. In reality, if the time and money is spent upfront to build an application or data center to be redundant and stable, you gain great returns on long term maintenance. You should be able to spend most of your time reading (researching on) /.. Or on projects that add value to the company. IT companies are starting to learn they only need staff for emergencies and projects. If that resource is part time and shared with other companies (cloud computing, consultants) or full time (1 day a week on maintenance, 4 days on special projects) is up to the talents of the individual and company's risk management strategy.
Their Governator can take care of it. He just needs to say the the magic words: "GET DOWWWWWWN"
Sometimes, those sorts of adverts are code for "we already have a candidate we really want to hire, they don't have a work permit, and to meet legislative requirements to get one we have to show that we can't hire someone local with those skills". They essentially put the candidate's CV down as the "essential skills" and feign disappointment that they didn't get any other suitable applicants.
"The steadily climbing unemployment rate in Silicon Valley has reached a shocking four-year high of 6.6 per cent. Recent statistics indicate that the percentage of unemployed workers in the sunny state of California has increased to 7.7 in August -- up from 7.4 per cent in July.
The steadily climbing unemployment rate in Silicon Valley has reached a shocking 100-year high of 110.10011 per 1100100. Recent statistics indicate that the per1100100age of unemployed workers in the sunny state of California has increased to 111.10110 in August -- up from 111.01101 per 1100100 in July.
There, fixed that for you.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Let us ask other questions.
yes, lets
How many are too afraid to take on a new job because they feel they might not measure up?
How many do not have the financial means to get training to get that jobs? have you seen those cisco training courses? bat crazy money
I would like to ask you what makes you think that *everybody* can work like that? or should work like that? what kind of attitude is that towards the 40-hour week? there was blood on the streets to win those 40 hours and now you're implying that we should go back to working day and night? I thought i worked to make a living, and not the other way around.
How many are too lazy to learn new skills because it might be hard, get in the way of WOW, or posting on boards?
How many are not willing to put in to learn new skills because they'd rather put their time towards raising their children or going out on a date or staying home with their girlfriend and oiling her hair/giving her a backrub?
maybe not everybody is lazy
Guess what, those working only 40 hours a day won't get anywhere.
not everybody has the same physical/psychological strength to work those hours. and by work i mean both make a living and learn something new. if you can do it, more kudos to you. why are you berating those who cannot? or will not? why are you creating a hypothetical social/work scale where everybody has to measure the size of their dick compared to yours?
furthermore, where are we supposed to go? wtf? is there a "destination" planned? cuz i didn't get the memo.
There are a lot of jobs out there. If you go through life in your 9 to 5 relying on things never changing you will get stung. When the job you had is lost it can be blamed on the economy many times, however not being able to get a new one rest on yourself more than not.
the idea of changing 4801840938 jobs in a lifetime may not be comforting to everybody for reasons of personal priorities and/or preference. i hate looking for a new job. it's draining me, psychologically. Life is not a dick measuring competition, again.
It's only in Western Capitalism that the idea of financial insecurity and instability pushing people into staying with there jobs
insert marxist rant here, but still, please get off your high horse. not everybody subscribes to the protestant ethic
----
. . . Silicone Valley retailers report sales of trendy eyewear, amyl poppers, and anal lube are down 20% through the 4th quarter. . .
"Shocking high" ??? The world's average is 30%, and where i live, its 25%.
Now at 10.7 pct for August. Counts part-timers looking for full-time work, the discouraged etc. at 10.7 for the US.
I couldn't find numbers for silly valley, but my gut feeling is that it is above the national average there.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
OK Ballmer... keep your hair on.
Oops, sorry......
here's the link for the U6
http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab12.htm
should have posted it to begin with.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
3-4 times a year, I have the distinct pleasure of driving between San Diego and Seattle, taking the coastal routes through Big Sur, CA, Gold Beach, OR and Oyster Bay, WA.
For scenery, it is almost a religious experience.
I've worked in Atlanta, Chicago, Memphis and Oklahoma City. Compared to the West Coast, these places look like hell warmed over, and would not return for any salary.
If you have any appreciation for grand vistas, amazing landscapes, after one drive through the California Redwood Forests, I defy you to say: "California aint that beautiful anyway" ever again.
We've been looking to hire senior level networking engineers with linux experience (or vice versa) but the skills of the applicants coming in is depressingly low. Sure they've worked for some big names and attended lots of corporate BBQs, but it seems they haven't pulled much out of the experiences. Maybe the bubble has generated people who think they don't need to know anything but still be valuable?
Are you looking for such a job in Silicon Valley? Figure out my contact info and hit me up.
Never ascribe to malice what can be adequately attributed to ignorance. -Napoleon
there arent that many work permit issues in turkey.
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I've been out of work since 2001. I've tried to get work doing anything: roofing, construction, writing, bagging groceries, etc...
When they ask to see my resume, they see the ten+ years of programming (All C++ and SQL) and my degrees. Noting, Not even feedback.
I HAVE been learning new technologies - on my own and classes. But EVERYONE wants you to have PAID experience in the tech.
TAKING A CLASS IN A NEW TECHNOLOGY MEANS NOTHING UNLESS YOU HAVE PAID EXPERIENCE!
I go up to RentACoder and bid on projects. I bid really low, I mean $100/day low. AND that's just coding - no research or anything. You what? I'm still underbid! RentACoder is for folks who want SLAVE wages! Folks who want WHOLE websites done for $25?!?! WTF!
I love to learn. I'm not afraid to learn. I WANT to move on to new technology because, frankly, I'm board with C++!
I'm not busted, it's the industry and its recruiting methods that's busted!
Whoever you are, you better kiss the ground and thank you're personal god that you have a job!
With all the banking problems, expect less investment and more layoffs.
Oil was up 30% yesterday.
6.8 unemployment in MN? Were I work in MN we are having a hard time finding a good qualified programmers.
As a self employed techie in SF who has dealt with many SV tech firms, I can firmly state that the majority of tech workers in Silicon Valley are overpaid, under-skilled and a massive cull of the cubicle heard in any large tech company would be a wise move for any manager to make.
Tech is no different than any other industry in that the majority of people that are in it are in it for a paycheck. There are those bright stars are who are in it for the passion, and it shows, but they are far and few between.
So seeing unemployment go up is no surprise, right now, every company should be tightening their belts and bracing for the worst. Letting go of the bottom feeders who barely pull their weight is the logical first step, more layoffs are sure to come by the end of the year.
I've been tempted to panic about the credit crunch. Being that as an independent consultant, I have no support beyond what I provide for myself. But I continue to have a steady stream of work with no end in sight. And considering I am already considered "A list" and can get a job in pretty much any dotcom, I know that even if that worst case scenario happened and I had no work for a month or two, I could always have a high level development job in short order.
However, I suspect that as the economic situation gets worse and the reality settles in, the demand for people such as myself will only increase. And while I might see some competition from the newly unemployed, I think having a solid 15 years of professional consulting experience will trump the resume of a laid-off worker down on his/her luck.
java scares me
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Who says he's lazy? I don't see a mention anywhere in his post that he doesn't work at all.
What, because someone doesn't want to work themselves to death they must be living off your teat? What an ass.
By the way, parent didn't make a marxist rant, they said 'insert marxist rant here', perhaps you should read more slowly. Also, I don't owe you a living just because you can't read accurately.
How are the salaries of senior management doing?
Yes, I thought so.
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
Well put!
If you choose not to subscribe to a particular work ethic (or any 'ethic', for that matter), good for you... but be prepared for the consequences.
I didn't like my job, and realized it would go nowhere, so I went back to school and got a new degree in a new field. I then shucked my high-paying job for an entry-level software engineering position... and worked my way back up.
I took the consequences. I worked the long hours with school. It was my choice.
If you choose not to do that, that's fine. If you want to spend your time rearing children (or whatever) instead of learning new skills, more power to you. Just be prepared to accept consequences.
For the overwhelming majority of people, life is about a series of compromises. What is so wrong with that?
Holy shit! Frank Grimes, is that you?
No one cares what your captcha was
Houston TX, USA
You may be a troll, but I'll reply anyway.
My dad was a workaholic and he went "far" in his job, moving up the ranks and earning a six figure salary. How did he achieve it? He spent his nights at home writing memos and reports. He was never more than an arm's length away from a laptop with his email client up. His cell phone was ringing constantly--dinner, nights, family time, no event was so important that he had to turn off the cell phone. He would have been a hero in your eyes.
What was the result, however? He became grossly overweight, sick often, irritable, and in the end he ran off with some tart who was apparently okay with his lifestyle (or perhaps it was his money).
I'm not writing this to complain about bad fortune or whatever (I'm doing fine currently), I'm just writing this to show why I'm going to be lazy, at least according to your definition (working 40hrs a week). Like hell I'm going to work myself to death simply to enrich my employers.
In fact, I've been researching inexpensive housing and increasing living efficiency so that I can thrive when unemployed or on a low salary. I prefer living simple and happy to living large and depressed.
Move north, and east. We're having real trouble finding good people here in Waterloo, Ontario (RIM keeps hiring everyone).
Paraphrasing you
"how many people would rather make excuses than improve themselves."
Nothing is yor post rises above the levelof excuse, and most of them are pretty bad excuses at that.
It is kind of funny how you ask "how many people are lazy and make up bullshit excuses for it" over and over and yet don't realize you're trying to justify the laziness.
Because "going on a date" is just another leisure activity, yet you pretend it's some kind of refutation and not just an example of your obliviousness.
To quote LongNoi "QZTR was right and won't leave me alone because I called him a moron when I was wrong" FYS
>oiling her hair
virgin detected
...and posting as AC tends to get ignored.
1) All of California isn't silicon valley or even high tech. A lot of those lost jobs have been in housing and farming.
2) 1,200 of those jobs were financial sector. Sure some of those are IT, but clearly not all of them and it's unlikely they're a majority.
3) "trade, transportation, utilities" aren't areas where you see a lot of IT.
Frankly, this isn't nearly as bad as the dot com bust and there are good jobs to be had, but companies are watching head count and so people who don't interview well, only got into tech because of the $$$ not because they'd be any good at it, have little to no experience (You're just out of college? Great! What OSS project did you work on? == blank stare) or can't work well with others are going to find their options very limited.
My company has been hiring and I'm constantly amazed with the large quantity of crappy resumes and relatively few well written ones. And I'm not looking for people who double majored CS/EE at MIT, just people who are competent, bright and have a real desire to learn.
He ain't on your teat. How does an enforced 40-hour workweek extract even a single cent from you?
>oiling her hair
virgin detected
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. What kind of pansy-ass comment was that?
Not a troll. I agree that the protestant work ethic, where your work attitude defines your attitude towards god, doesn't work for everybody. That's fine. What really, really irks me though is when people use one extreme (overwork, like in the case of your dad) to justify the other (Marxism). I'd actually go one step further: justifying Marxism because overworking yourself is bad is just an excuse for laziness. I've seen this argument countless times, and every time it boils down to "I want to work less, but want to get the same amount of money as those who work more".
To clarify: I have absolutely nothing against people who make a conscious decision to earn less and live on less, because they have other priorities. As a matter of fact, I have tremendous respect for these people. It takes a certain amount of willpower to go against the consumerism that surrounds you.
What I do have a massive problem with is wannabe Marxist rebels who have no clue about capitalism, no clue about Marxism, and whose only complaint is "but it's too hard!" Well, no shit, Sherlock. Life is hard. There is no direction given from above. Marxism isn't going to solve those problems. The only one who can solve those problems is you.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
I never said "but it's too hard". and i certanly don't use the protestant work ethic to justify class struggle.
what i am saying though is that the social darwinism which you propose ("go home cuz you're not good enough") cannot possibly include all of society and it does reflect a certain attitude, which has led the western world during the 20th century.
need more clearning up?
----
You post a?reply to a mental health professional discussing "emotional an psychological needs", to which I'd reply "so does all the other stuff listed, so you're proving my point".
And as far as my "7 digit ID", I think you should be careful crowing about the fact that you've been posting on a web board longer than I have if you intend to question my socialization.
Or did you not realize your joke was actually on you?
To quote LongNoi "QZTR was right and won't leave me alone because I called him a moron when I was wrong" FYS
Here's a newsflash then: you don't deserve a job. You have absolutely no right to demand a job or a particular income.
More breaking news! Now this: The employee doesn't have a right to the job. The employer doesn't have a right to the employee.
I actually agree with everything you said, but if you choose a more laid back lifestyle than don't complain if those who choose a different path in life outcompete you.
US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
There is no reason to get defensive, I don't think anyone is forcing you to work yourself to death (btw you have serious father-figure psychological issues). If you can live simple, it's fine, just accept that you will never have nice things and in every job above mop pushing you'll be outcompeted by people like me. Now have a nice stress-free life.
US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
You seriously need to learn something about the terms you're throwing around. Marxism is all about class-struggle, and Social Darwinism has nothing to do with getting paid in proportion to the work you're doing.
The basic idea is this: if you're not good at what you're doing, go find something else to do. If you don't want to work, don't. Just don't come crying that Capitalism is failing you, or that the man is keeping you down. You're merely failing yourself.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
lol, twitter, you insufferable little shit.
Yeah, a stock buyback is a sure sign of trouble. Dumbass.
Dude, you are not serious.
Unemployment does improve a few things in CA, employment does not improve in Texas.
Say, my surfing for instance...
The 40-hour workweek isn't enforced. There are plenty of part-time jobs out there. Not to mention that books like The 4-hour Work Week have demonstrated how to achieve income by working less than 40 hours a week.
What I do know though is that people with his attitude cost me in one of two ways: either I get to pick up their slack because their work-rate sucks, or I get to pay their unemployment benefits because they feel they can't compete, and are owed by everyone else.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
Thank you for that rambling rant. Can we perchance have some more?
Couldn't agree more
(Anyone know any good Customer Support types, or good Perl developers? i can split the referral bonus! :)
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
i'd hardly name students who are in for a profession to make quick buck as competent. you gotta love what you are doing first, to make a difference.
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How many do not have the financial means to get training to get that jobs? have you seen those cisco training courses? bat crazy money
I understand the other poster pissed you off, but this just makes it sound like you're making excuses.
There is no reason a dedicated person can't learn pretty much any computer skill they want. Hardware is cheap, the Internet is flooded with useful information, and software is free, cheap, or easily stolen. Most courses are priced and structured for large-company drones. If you want a better or different job, just devote the time to learning the stuff yourself.
Cisco gear is one of the hardest things to learn about, true. But even there, I know people who are giving away old stuff or selling it on eBay cheap. That won't let you learn everything, but you sure can get a lot that way, more than enough to get a job. Were I to interview somebody who had built their own home router lab, I'd hire them on the spot.
furthermore, where are we supposed to go? wtf? is there a "destination" planned? cuz i didn't get the memo. [...] i hate looking for a new job. [...] It's only in Western Capitalism that the idea of financial insecurity and instability pushing people into staying with there jobs
If you have gotten to the point where you are blaming your personal discontent on the essential nature of capitalism, then you should pause a moment.
Whether or not capitalism is actually the problem, if you find working a 40-hour week the limit of your energies, then you might as well get used to your situation. Revolutionaries don't work an 8-hour day, and most of them end in ignominy. If you focusing on doing what you can with what you have, you'll end up being a lot happier.
the pollution, the non-existent freeways that will take 20 years to build?
What about the airports the government said would be built, but haven't yet (due to congestion, and inability for many to BUY tickets...)?
What about the mad-cap, jam-packed freeways in some of the cities?
I'm not trying to *knock* moving to India. It could be a quite enlightening, humbling, and enriching experience. But, unless an "umerkin" thinking of moving to India is socially integrable (food, religions/beliefs, politics, local terrorism/crime/etc, sanitation or lack thereof in some parts), and bothers to try to show respect by trying and succeeding at learning the language (though PLENTY of Indians speak perfectly good English (British AND US/Australian accents/dialect), "merkuns should not bother complicating the situation there unless they bring great personal experience and aren't going there to try to "tell India how to live". In other words, don't go there all flag-wrapped. Contribute, stay away from crime, learn, enjoy, and don't screw with thousands of years of habits or culture.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
How many are not willing to put in to learn new skills because they'd rather put their time towards raising their children or going out on a date or staying home with their girlfriend and oiling her hair/giving her a backrub?
If it had been giving each other back rubs etc. I'd have agreed with you but as it stands it sounds like you are just trading one taskmaster (mistress?) for another.
The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny - Aesop
Putting in extra hours doesn't make you better. It may well mean you're worse - I've worked with people who do an extra 20 hours just trying to fix the shit they did in the other 40.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
There was no flamebait there.
The only conclusion that makes sense is that you know you're a fucking loser and hate that I drew attention to it.
To quote LongNoi "QZTR was right and won't leave me alone because I called him a moron when I was wrong" FYS
Holy false dichotomy, Batman!
Omniscient as you are, you must be familiar with the concept of work-life balance. May I humbly draw your attention to the "balance" part.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
The 40-hour workweek isn't enforced.
Point. It isn't. Not from below and not from above. See below.
What I do know though is that people with his attitude cost me in one of two ways: either I get to pick up their slack because their work-rate sucks, or I get to pay their unemployment benefits because they feel they can't compete, and are owed by everyone else.
Oh yes, I'm sure that there's no such thing as a person who manages to be as productive as you are in 40+X hours a week by working only 40 hours a week, but has a sucky boss who measures productivity in hours worked.
Yes, economic theory says that person should get a better job. Economic theory assumes that human beings are intelligent and rational, however, which most are definitely not.
The whole point of enforcing a maximum workweek is to make sure that "competing" never comes to mean "working longer hours than everyone else" over a certain limit that society has decided makes sense. If you work 40 hours a week and someone else wants to work 30 a week, OK, you're "more competitive". But in a civilized society, if you offer to work 60 hours a week and someone else wants 40, neither of you has an advantage over the other (by law), and you actually have to compete on productivity-per-hour instead of on not-having-a-social-life-or-family.
I'm just writing this to show why I'm going to be lazy, at least according to your definition (working 40hrs a week). Like hell I'm going to work myself to death simply to enrich my employers.
Just to be clear, I fully support your decision. There's nothing wrong with choosing a life you want, and then having just enough job to support it.
However, there are other alternatives to making somebody else rich. Especially in the US, starting a business is within almost anybody's reach if they take it seriously and put their mind to it.
That in turn makes it easier to lead a healthy life. If you're working for yourself, you're much more likely to enjoy your work. And you get to decide how your employees, yourself included, get treated.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Look, you little punk. I'm not a "tart", I just found a man who can meet my needs.
'a';DROP TABLE users; SELECT * FROM DATA WHERE name LIKE '%'... if you're reading this, it didn't work.
One reason you might see a crazy ad like that is hiring or immigration rules.
For example, a lot of countries have a rule that you can't hire an immigrant if anybody in the country can take the job. You have to advertise and then show why none of the applicants were good enough. If you've already got somebody you like and that you know will be good at it, then it's to your advantage to write the ad in such a way that only the person you've already got could possibly qualify.
The funniest part is, his boss, who probably works < 40 hours a week, is the one who's keeping all the money his hard (?) work is earning and living off his teat, throwing him a few scraps here and there. And he's defending the guy.
Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
I don't know, who the "repubs" want to pay, but the Democrats' intentions are certainly "less than honorable". Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama are the two-highest beneficiaries of the Fannie and Freddie lobbying efforts -- despite the vast accounting irregularities of both monsters.
IIRC, the total lobbying effort of Fannie and Freddie has been in the hundreds of millions, and the Obama campaign's share is about $112,000. I'm not sure he's received more than 1-2% of their attention. The lobbying effort has been so huge that I doubt there are very many federal offices that haven't been touched by it.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0912/p03s01-usec.html
There are certainly connections with the McCain campaign:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aQIOOr9klOnE&refer=home
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/us/politics/22mccain.html
Not that this is a partisan issue. It's pretty clear Fannie and Freddie really worked hard to have as much influence as possible, and I think that's one of the reasons why the recent bailout had a provision that they had to curtail lobbying activity.
Tweet, tweet.
Second, I will reiterate, there is a certain point in which your "work hours" become unproductive. The body and mind need relaxation. This is something most people learn in programming 101. You code more efficiently when you pace yourself. Most of my "Oh Shit" moments happen when I am into my 11th+ hour in a day. But when it comes down to it, I mostly feel sorry for you poor SOBs who need 10 hours to do what I do in 6-8. It is really sad. I used to push myself past 7:00, and have had my fair share of 100+ hour workweeks. But then I realized something, my work was sloppy, I spent most of my time fixing dumb mistakes I made earlier, and was missing out on life. I stopped the game and started playing smart. I now work 6-9 hour days, depending on when the work is done to my satisfaction go home and relax then come back in refreshed and enjoying my job. I started climbing the latter at light speed and learning much much faster. Moral of the story, know your limits and accept them. Oh and never forget the 3 laws of a programmer: (Yes I am a sysadmin and no longer a programmer but they still apply)
Laziness The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving programs that other people will find useful, and document what you wrote so you don't have to answer so many questions about it. Hence, the first great virtue of a programmer. Also hence, this book. See also impatience and hubris.
Impatience The anger you feel when the computer is being lazy. This makes you write programs that don't just react to your needs, but actually anticipate them. Or at least pretend to. Hence, the second great virtue of a programmer. See also laziness and hubris.
Hubris Excessive pride, the sort of thing Zeus zaps you for. Also the quality that makes you write (and maintain) programs that other people won't want to say bad things about. Hence, the third great virtue of a programmer. See also laziness and impatience.
CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
In other words, treat India better than the British Empire treated it.
On a side note: Europeans and Arabs, stop trying to change American habits or culture.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
You seem to be implying that people who expect to work about 40 hours per week, on the average, are slackers undeserving of even basic sustenance. So, what do you think is an unreasonable number of hours per week to be required?
If your job requires you to work 80 hours a week, your "work ethic" demands that you just go ahead and work 80 hours a week? What about 120? What about 160? What if they require you to sleep on a cot in front of your desk so that they can call you up whenever they might need you, that's OK, too? Is that just the "consequences of a global economy"? What if they chained you there and didn't let you leave? "Oh, well, at least I'm employed. All you lazy whiners who expect to be able to go home at night deserve to starve to death in the street."
Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
>If your job requires you to work 80 hours a week, your "work ethic" demands that you just go ahead and
>work 80 hours a week? What about 120? What about 160? What if they require you to sleep on a cot in
>front of your desk so that they can call you up whenever they might need you, that's OK, too?
Dude, we are just testing you to see if you have any integrity.
If you actually comply with these crap requests we are going to fire you.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
"Oh yes, I'm sure that there's no such thing as a person who manages to be as productive as you are in 40+X hours a week by working only 40 hours a week, but has a sucky boss who measures productivity in hours worked."
The real problem comes in with an hourly job where hours worked are not the hours reported.
Here's the deal. The first time it happens, I will report you to the Social Security Administration, who will not only ask for the money you stole from them, but will want to investigate to see how much more money you stole.
Don't you dare ask me to report on a time card "40 hours" if I worked "41", let alone "80." I will make a Federal Case out of it, quite literally, because it is a Federal Crime, one that cheats the Federal Witholding system and Social Security.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Well, like Randy in South Park, most professional people didn't care about a glut of cheap labor as long as the victims were tradesmen and factory workers. It's not surprising that there is a downturn in all types of employment in the United States as the globalization of the economy continues.
Statistics on unemployment only factor in those on the unemployment rolls and do not take into account those whose benefits have completely lapsed.
There are a large number of jobs with stupid requirements and BS HR preventing real applicants from getting through, but even after filtering those out, there are still jobs. You might 1) want to have your resume checked. Maybe it's worse than you think. Also, make mention that you are adept at learning new languages in it. 2) Make sure when you are interviewing, that you don't come off as disgruntled. 3) Be willing to move for a job. I don't know if you feel that you must live somewhere, but if you do, that can be very limiting. There's at most a dozen employers in my town, and they all know each other. 4) Consider a job in C++, and look to move to another language from within the company. My employer requires C/C++, but we venture off into C#, VB, Fortran, PHP, etc. Most long-term employers will need their employees to learn other languages as they come along.
As for RAC, the folks who win the bids come from countries where "slave" wages go pretty far. For someone from the US, look for ads that are looking for a US bias (though rare, they exist).
These kinds of unemployment numbers aren't "shocking". In fact, they are normal in many parts of the world. Many French would consider 7% pretty decent.
Creative Demolition
Say that it's 7.7% than it's probably triple that, figure 25% as the actual figure, if you're retired like me and live in (very near to) Silicon Valley and drive around during the day you see waaay too many working age people out and about, makes me think of how it used to be twenty or thirty years ago when malls were empty during the work week, now they're full.
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
Drop yer drawers, bend over and grab your ankles, it's time for the free market to finally introduce you to a little quality time with what we call reality.
Not as much fun when it's you that's getting pounded, is it?
I've seen this argument countless times, and every time it boils down to "I want to work less, but want to get the same amount of money as those who work more".
This used to be the secret of American technological advancement. "I want to work less, but want to get the same amount of money as those who work more, so that's why I invented this labor-saving device".
Sadly, these days it's "I want to work less, but want to get the same amount of money as those who work more, and that's why I voted for a representative who's trying to allow a judge to lower my mortgage payment".
Once people discover they can vote themselves money, it always seems to get ugly.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
I'm a .Net developer.
I get my money from what my mouth says.
Open Sores evangelists have no future - because they close their eyes to reality.
twitter, you spend so much time sticking your head in the ground and coming up with baseless accusations against Microsoft that you forgot to actually get good at anything.
Rambling, think not, it was pretty much on target and an abbreviated macro-analysis of who /.'ers are and how their politics contradict with the economics of IT. I had to respond after noticing the B word in a post and just rolled the eyes and reasoned another victim of BDS, Bush Derrangement Syndrome of which is at epidemic proportions
Bush is so universally reviled on /., its obvious he gets too much evil cred and why?
Simply because Scientific or IT types are no better at objective thinking when politics, religion, social and even economic issues, all topics where there is little solid empirical data or honesty for that matter. Its pretty much based on spoon fed information from the mainswhine media who have little regard for truth or science when it contradicts their politics.
But thats ok for /.'ers, you just all fall in line which may be a necessary skilll for you all in the future because thats where you will be standing, in the unemployment line.
Somehow /. attracting minds who are supposed to be adept at objective critical thinking sometimes proves just the opposite in the face of their personal biases of which can be generalized into the themes I presented in my "rant".
Enjoy the downslide
6.6% unemployment would be nirvana to many parts of Western Europe. 5% umemployment is virtually full employment for all able-bodied people. Try finding responsible, capable people at a good rate when the employment rate is less than 8 or 9%. It's very, very hard to find capable people when none are available unless you're willing to spend an exorbitant amount of money.
One of the factory owners I know in Atlanta told me the problems they have with 5% unemployment. Half the people who apply cannot perform simple math on fractions. Half of the ones who can do the math never show up for the drug test. Half of the people who do show up fail the drug test.
What is half of half of 5%? 1.25%
The "news" here is that a wealthier-than-average part of the U.S. in a liberal area attracts deadbeats. Oh, sorry, that's not news...
According to a study cited by Bill Gates, in his testimony before the US congress, last March: every time an employer even requests an h1b, that creates five new jobs for Americans.
Because of this, Microsoft is lobbying congress to allow an unlimited number h1b guest workers into the US. It is unusual for msft to not get what it wants.
BTW: I read the study. I could find no mention anywhere of who funded the study, or who funds the think-tank who created the study.
I can accept that. But, why are all the big tech corps claiming that we need eliminate caps on h1b visas due to sever shortages of tech workers?
How can we have sever shortages of tech workers, and record unemployment of tech workers at the same time? It does not seem to add up.
Are you posting about the official unemployment rate, or the real unemployment rate?
Define "capable."
BTW: I can find "capable" people easily, with the current unemployment rate. You can always find "capable" people if you are willing to pay for it. I don't know what you consider excessive pay, but I see jobs for experience, college eduated, IT workers, for rates around $35K a year, all the time. Take a look at my salary survey:
http://techtoil.org/wiki/doku.php?id=salary_survey
Tovarich,
What is this outcompeting you are talking about? Outcompete me from what? where?
----
Pissed me off? nah, far from it
There is no reason a dedicated person can't learn pretty much any computer skill they want.
Please fly out to the Sudanese desert and make the same claim. I think you meant to say any dedicated *westerner*.
and we're not talking about my job, man. i already have a perfectly good job as a sysadmin :) I am just whining about that elitist attitude of "i'm better than you cuz i work more! You gonna go to Hell!!oneoneoneleventy!"
----
Are you seriously equating an ex-lobbyist working for McCain (on McCain's presidential transition -- a rather remote future possibility), with Obama and Dodd receiving actual cash?..
Actually, if you want to look at the situation closely, there are a number of factors that would make McCain's connections at least as significant direct cash to the campaign. For one thing, most congressional scholars I've talked to suggest that the effects of donations on votes and legislation is overrated -- it's the secondary direct lobbying that comes with the access cash tends to help shape policy. And there's a number of businesses, industries, and other groups that simply spread their collections around. Pre 2006 election, FM/FM were giving the slight balance (about 53%) of their contributions to Republicans. Post 2006, it's about 56% to Democrats (and in general, they've increased lobbying dollars over time).
John McCain's received about $20k of that. Assuming a linear relationship between cash received and compromise on the topic and considering no other factors, I suppose you could argue that McCain's 1/6th as compromised as Obama.
As it is, though, I can't agree that an adviser on Presidential transition is some kind of insignificant connection. That sounds to me like that means he'll be helping plan the organization and staffing of a McCain Whitehouse. And if touching the money produces compromise, Timmons must be about twice as compromised as Obama. But if you wanted to be generous and assume he plays a smaller role in the McCain campaign, we could discount that, so McCain might still be less compromised under our theoretical linear relationship to money touched.
However, that's not the only McCain campaign connection. We've also got Aquiles Suarez, an economic adviser to the McCain campaign, at least according to some 2007 McCain press releases. Former director of government and industry relations for Fannie Mae. Directed about $47 million in lobbying from 2003 to 2006.
Again, assuming a linear relation, this person is about 400 times more compromised than Obama. However, if you want to be generous and assume he plays a smaller role in the campaign, we really only have to discount the influence by a factor of 100.
It doesn't stop there, though. Charlie Black. Rick Davis. Wayne Berman... I think there's at least a few more on the campaign, plus a dozen or so fundraisers for McCain.
So, no, I don't think Obama's campaign donation numbers say it all.
But what I'm really trying to do here is not so much convince anybody that McCain's uniquely attached to them (you can come up with a number of Obama connections as well) so much as to illustrate how pervasive FM/FM's presence has been in Washington for a long time, and how little of the story the actual campaign donations tell.
Wow... No wonder, Sarah Palin's "troopergate" is seriously compared with Bill Clinton's.
Troopergate is interesting as a test of how important process and rule-of-law are to Palin, but I agree that it's not all that significant. There's far better reasons to worry about Palin as an officeholder. That's a bit offtopic for this post, though, and I suspect you were simply mocking the idea that the McCain campaign might have connections with FM/FM. Hopefully I've addressed this adequately enough.
Tweet, tweet.
So you're saying you're so work-obsessed that you will work overtime off the clock and without pay?!
The real problem comes in with an hourly job where hours worked are not the hours reported.
I've never heard of someone under-reporting their hours because they wanted to, only because their employer doesn't want to pay for those hours.
Seriously. I'm not saying anyone should report working less hours than they really did. I was saying that someone in the world is probably more productive, per-hour, than you. Why should employers hire inefficient employees and demand exorbitant hours, lowering both efficiency and quality-of-life, when we can pass a law that will make the more productive worker win the competition for a job instead of the more slavish worker?
dude, day dreaming is super lazy.
who do you think you are fooling? this is slashdot - we know the deal.
LOL, before I read the line about astronaut certification I thought "damn, those spy agencies must be desperate."
how is babby formed?
The appropriate word here is "tool".
Hmmm. So that's the secret.
Table-ized A.I.
I know the perfect man for the job, here's his resume:
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This is my page
WELCOME TO MY HOME PAGE !!!!!!!!!
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I like music , I have many many music enstrumans my home I can play
I like sport , swiming , basketball , tenis , volayball , walk
I like sex
I like travel I go 3-4 country every year
I went , Germany , Nederland , Belgium , Austria , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary Moldovia , Ukraina , Bulgaria , Romania , Macedonia , Azerbaijan , Georrgia , Iran
My profession jurnalist , music and sport teacher , I make psycolojy doctora
I like to take foto-camera (amimals , towns , nice nude models and peoples).....
My tall 1.84 cm (6.2 feet) My weight 78 kg.
My eyes green
I have home - car
I like to be friendship from different country
I live in TURKEY -town IZMIR
Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate
She can stay my home
I speake turkish , english , rusian , I want to learn other language !
http://istanbul.tc/mahir/mahir/
Your hybrid is not saving the environment. Its purpose is to make you feel good about buying something.
I needed to write a forth message. lol
Thanks for being cool. It is nice to have a rational debate about an issue without emotions.
The irony about marxism is that it is incompatible with survival of the fittest.
Jobs are almost always much harder to get (and probably less fulfilling and done with less enthusiasm) and economies are weaker in countries where they are difficult to terminate for precisely that reason. In locations where you can hire and fire with ease, jobs can be created just because someone has a good idea this week. It might fail, but it might not; and that is the basis for not just capitalism, but innovation.
Money is not made by certainties; all money making enterprises are gambles -- educated risk taking. That is why corporations exist -- to reduce the risk to individuals and reduce the risk to only the dollars you've invested, not your house, clothes, or freedom.
We get off course when we increase government regulations and bail out businesses that should just fold under their own greed or fraud. There's a built in system of checks and balances, and we're about to completely bypass that now with a 3/4 trillion bailout. Is it necessary? I don't know. I don't think anyone really knows. But I do think that massively messing with free markets will introduce the same degree of uncertainty and perhaps "irrational exuberance" that we have now; when companies can do unethical or stupid things and get away with it just because to let them fail would do inestimable damage, we really have to wonder why we are going to let them continue, and prop up all their peers as well.
This is more than a Democratic, Marxist, or Republican debate; this is a simple matter of ethics and integrity. If those companies wasted their shareholder's dollars, they should be held to account for it. If they committed fraud or violated the law, ditto. We should not reward them, especially on the backs of hard working tax payers -- and we should not bail them out either. We don't need increased regulation -- we need more hands off.
Whether individuals buying homes or CEO's of multi-billion-dollar firms, if they think the government is protecting them, they will take unnecessary risks; it's not their money! That's what happened in Katrina, with unprincipled home buying AND lending (i.e., the home owners that did this as well as the lenders that risked shareholder dollars in violation of every actuarial principle), and it's what's happening with these firms. We need to stop the spending, get fiscally responsible, and take our hands out of the social security cookie jar.
Radley Balko has a good analysis here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425903,00.html
Pick up a book and teach yourself!
Sure, not everybody can work like that. That's why they get paid less money. Which camp do you want to belong in?
Personally oiling somebody's hair (who the hell does that?) and backrubs classify as leisure activities in my book and are more akin to lazy than productive. But hey if you wish to choose to value such activities then by all means. But realize that such choices result in certain consequences like lower pay and/or unemployment. Your choice - not mine!
Right. Likewise not everybody has the same skills or smarts. People who do not have such things, be definition, and by society since society started, are not seen as as valuable as those who do and thus they make less. Darwin in action!
Because they are less valuable by definition yet they whine that they want as much compensation - that's why you berate them!
Those are the worse kind - the kind who bitch and moan but are too lazy to get off their asses and do something about it!
Because that's the way it is! Are you just now learning this?
By definition, thereby not requiring a memo, you go to hell! By that I mean by being lazy you have created hell for yourself. We, the productive, are not here to support your silly ass. And and BTW - buy a shift key!
I'm so sorry it doesn't agree with you personal preferences but here's a little clue... The world is not hear to suit you. You need to fight to survive or you die. That's how it is. And if you don't like it then well, about all you can do is die... Oh, and if I told you once, I told you a million times - never exaggerate! Changing 4801840938 jobs! Really! (BTW you can always tell the lazy, they are too lazy to hit the shift key! Don't you think your poor communication skills speaks volumes about you?)
Yeah, I hate going grocery shopping. It's so draining for me! And man having to go to work and earn money. Such a bother. That's life bud! Get used to it! It's only in Western Capitalism that the idea of financial insecurity and instability pushing people into staying with there jobs insert marxist rant here, but still, please get off your high horse. not everybody subscribes to the protestant ethic
Anyway you do it you will end up dying. That's life, and death. You make call it "work yourself to death" but it seems to me he worked and was nicely rewarded, provided you your life you unthankful bastard, and traded up to a newer, younger model probably after your mom failed to keep with the program. All said and done I'd rather be your dad then what you are shooting for...
Simple...the cost of living is atrocious there. I'm a tech writer and make 65k a year in Texas. My salary would be about 80k in silicon valley, which wouldn't be enough to afford a 3500 sq. foot house like I do now.
He did a column where he said he tried to move, but the Indian government has no concept of a worker migrating *TO* India. He couldn't do it.
>I've never heard of someone under-reporting their hours because they wanted to, only because their employer doesn't want to pay for those hours.
My point is, I will personally report the violation to federal agents who investigate crimes related to Federal Withholding of income tax and Social Security, next and every time I witness the crime being committed.
I don't know how I can make that any more clear.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.