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East Coast vs. West Coast In the Quest For Young Programming Talent
McGruber writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that tech interns are in high demand in the Bay area. According to the author, 'Technology giants like Google Inc. have been expanding their summer-intern programs, while smaller tech companies are ramping up theirs in response — sometimes even luring candidates away from college.' Meanwhile in NYC, CIOs lament that they are unable to retain 20-something techies according to a report in Network World. Says one CIO, 'It puts us in a really uncomfortable position to have this kind of turnover because knowledge keeps walking out the door. We invest in training people and bringing them up to speed to where they need to be, and boom they're gone. That has been my biggest struggle and concern.' It's the pay, stupid!"
I'm in my 50's and I got 'told to leave' my last job due to age, my high salary and of course, there was a nice annual reorg to help managers oust people with a clean excuse.
I know what's going on. insurance costs are high, people my age are not willing to be abused and we know our rights and our place in this world. we don't exist for mr. bossman or the company; family and home life DOES come first. so people like me get ousted.
I have no loyalty to companies anymore. none. they put up with employees because they have to, not because they *like* us. we are simply an expense. and when it suits them, they exit us and march in some new kids that are more easily abusable and overworkable.
that is, for jobs that are still IN the US. I've had to personally train indian replacements. not a good feeling knowing you are being pushed out, pretty blatantly.
no loyalty to companies or ceo's. and they wonder why!
reap what you sow, you bastards. but don't DARE complain about the mess YOU created!
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Once salary is satisfied, what drives us all are 3 things: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.
I get the sense from my friends who work on the West Coast that they get these things from their jobs. On the East Coast, it doesn't seem to occur as often (or at the very least is harder to find.) I'm not surprised that young 20-somethings bail as often as they do in such an environment.
Here's a TED talk about it: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html
The only reason why they're aiming for young people is because they are dirt cheap compared to an experienced programmer. Once someone gains experience they look at the 60+ hours they're working for half the average salary and decide to look for greener pastures.
The turnover is so high because only the young are exploitable enough to take crappy salaries and long hours in order to get some relevant professional experience on their resumes. Only an idiot or someone incredibly loyal (also an idiot) would continue to work in that position once they had gained the relevant experience.
If your company is having high turnover, it's most likely because your company is doing something wrong.
~X~