Slashdot Mirror
US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Programmer Jobs Will Decline 8% (computerworld.com)
theodp writes: Two weeks ago, as the nation's schools 'taught kids to program' with an Hour of Code, Microsoft and others celebrated a 6-year lobbying effort that culminated in the passage of legislation that made Computer Science a core K-12 subject, which the software giant said "will advance some of the goals outlined in Microsoft's National Talent Strategy." But on Tuesday, Computerworld reported that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has put somewhat of a buzzkill on the learn-to-code party, saying IT jobs will grow 12% over the next decade, although computer programmers will see an 8% decline. "Computer programming can be done from anywhere in the world, so companies sometimes hire programmers in countries where wages are lower," explained the government. The silver lining is that software developers, the largest occupational group in IT, will increase by 17% or 186,600, over this period. The nomenclature here is a little muddy, since "programmers" and "software developers" are often used interchangeably. Here's how they're distinguished in this article: "Programmers are focused on coding and implementing requirements, and that’s why they may be more susceptible to offshoring, in contrast to software developers who may be more engaged with the business, analyzing needs and collaborating with multiple parties."
I didn't go into the traders, but I get the hell out of tech. Worked for 11 years as a dev, saw the writing on the wall and left. Now I'm a PharmD, making the same money, never have to work overtime and can land a job anywhere in the country.
Fuck the silicon valley rat race.
Outsourcing can and does produce as good if not better software. The problem is that unless you're very familiar with said outsourcing organization, you're essentially rolling the dice between horrible results and amazing results per dollar spent. If this sounds exactly like hiring an any regular employee, then you're exactly right. All HR related work needs to be adjudicated properly or you're risking your business viability. Given that giant American mega-corps haven't fallen into ruin, it seems like they're doing an ok job ramping up outsourcing work without significantly damaging their profitability -yet-.
1. Most developers work at companies that don't give a fuck about computers, developers, releases, etc.. They just want to make money, and IT is a cost. .. Software from what I've seen has mostly weathered the storm, but it certainly isn't immune to becoming *shock* commoditized like so many industries before it. That doesn't see the end of the industry, but certainly an adjustment.
2. A large number of developers feel that their work is important and that they're unique butterflies (and when you leave your company everything's just going to fall off the wheels and go to hell). Most of them are wrong.
3. We've had a great run for the last several decades, but we aren't guaranteed to be high-tier job prospects forever. I'd be miserable being a hardware engineer these days, since so much of it has been fleeing to China for the last 10 years or so (at least the low ended work)
Bye!
Europe as a whole sucks, but the Germans have the strongest economy in the union. They protect their manufacturing base as national policy. They don't have to worry about the Chinese buying out their factories, have their workers train Chinese workers, have their manufacturing equipment shipped overseas, and have unemployed workers with outdated job skills. Talented people don't embrace rape and pillage in the name of free trade.