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Good Economy? Tech Layoffs Are Up
Nerval's Lobster writes: If you look at the broad numbers produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy seems great, especially for the tech industry: The unemployment rate for tech pros currently stands at 2.1 percent, down from 2.3 percent in the first quarter. However, that dip isn't uniform for all sectors: The unemployment rate for Web developers climbed from 2.1 percent to 3.1 percent. Computer support specialists, network and systems administrators, computer & information systems managers, and database administrators also saw their respective unemployment rates rising slightly. Layoffs and discharges for the tech industry as a whole rose slightly in April and May (the latest months for which the BLS had numbers), to an average of 441,500 employees per month. That's higher than the first quarter, when layoffs and discharges averaged 424,300 per month. That's not to say we're on the verge of a collapse, bubble, or other economic shock, but it's definitely not great times for everybody.
There were generations before them, you know. I belong to what has been called the Silent Generation, which preceded the Baby Boomers. We're among the ones who put Armstrong on the moon, who developed the computer and networking technology you're using today, and who helped build up what the Baby Boomers ended up destroying.
This may surprise you, but some of us are very capable users of technology, even in our old age, having pioneered so much of it. I'm 86 years old, if you must know. We've witnessed first hand how the Baby Boomers ruined the many gifts that we, and the generations before us, gave them. In the span of one generation they have undone the work and contributions of centuries of previous generations.
I have a bridge with an ocean view to sell you. http://www.shadowstats.com/alt...
I agree. By almost any metric you choose to use since he came into office, with possibly the exception of the national debt, we are better off now. I remember the end of Bush's term well and it was quite fucking scary.
What a lot of people do not understand was that in 2008, we were on a precipice.
The years of using risky mortgages as an investment vehicle
The years of running the presses for emergency appropriations
The years of people living off their credit cards and re-fi's
And even though that was insanity enough, fighting war on two fronts at the same time as reducing taxes (for some) ranks in my book as fiscal attempted suicide.
2008 could have been the year that the Great depression of the 1930's could have been dwarfed.
So yes - despite some folks visceral hatred of the "Magic Negro" and his appointees and cabinet, something amazing happened. Despite an amazing amount of money that vanished into thin air, despite a decade of financial voodoo, we got through it with a lot less pain than it looked like we were due.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
The "get over it" comment wasn't very diplomatic, but on the other side you already had Republican leaders explicitly stating that their primary goal was to prevent a second Obama presidency. When politics trumps good government, that's not good for the nation.
Truth is, the Republican Party has pretty well committed to ensuring that nothing Obama proposes should get done and everything that he does do should be undone to the point that it seems that they want his historical legacy to be as if he'd never been. And when it comes to "uncompromising", most of the people who brag about being "uncompromising" seem to be on the Conservative side. Uncompromising isn't the virtue they pretend it is. We're trying to run a country, not fight Satan himself. Although listening to some you'd be hard-pressed to tell.
The partisan spiral seems to have started with Newt Gingrich and the (uncompromising) Moral Majority. Both sides have taken their turns as their respective stars rise and set, but it really needs to stop.
I've been out of work since january of this year. I am over 50, I have well over 25 years in C (c++ came later), I do hardware, firmware, networking.
and yet, I can't get a job to save my life, almost literally.
go ahead, I'm waiting; blame it on me. I didn't so this or that right, I should move to some bumfuck area of the country instead of the bay area, etc etc. yeah yeah, its all my fault. you 20 and 30somethings will surely know that I'm 'no good at coding' and so its all my fault.
but I know what the real issue is. corporations are sociopathic led by people who have that 'feature' themselves. people are to be kept around just long enough but not longer. and if you are older, forget about getting fulltime (benefits, healthcare) as you will be told 'sorry, we only have 'contract to hire' for folks like you; and btw, that's a typo its really contract-to-FIRE).
I know I'm not the most brilliant guy in the room, when I'm at a software company, but I also know that I'm never the dumbest and I can pull my weight, do my work and solve problems as good as anyone else. I'm no genius but even with over 30 yrs in tech, with a whos-who list of companies on my resume, I'm unhirable (it seems).
there is MOST DEFINITELY something really wrong about our current tech employment 'style'. the eat-and-use-them-up (then fire them) mentality is hitting people like me, first and the hardest but you'll come next, don't worry too much about that! when its your time and you hit a certain age and experience level, expect to find all that I just explained HAPPENING TO YOU.
I didn't believe it when older guys said that to me, 10 or 20 yrs ago. but now, well, I'm living it.
employers suck and they've sucked more now than they have in the last 50 or even 75 years. only the turn of the century has been worse for workers than it is now.
but hey, that ceo got himself a 2nd or 3rd boat. woohoo! I'm glad to be penniless and nearly homeless just so some ultra rich white guy can get even richer.
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."