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Demand For Programmers Hits Full Boil as US Job Market Simmers (bloomberg.com)
When the American job market heats up, demand for technology talent boils, an anonymous reader writes citing a Bloomberg report. From the story: Nationally, the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in January, and analysts project that it declined to 4 percent, the lowest since 2000, in Labor Department figures due Friday. For software developers, the unemployment rate was 1.9 percent in 2017, down from 4 percent in 2011. While companies are writing bigger checks, they are also adopting new strategies to find engineers for an economy where software is penetrating even mundane processes. Companies are focusing more on training, sourcing new talent through apprenticeships, and looking at atypical pools of candidates who have transferable skills.
"It is probably the most competitive market in the last 20 years that I have been doing this," said Desikan Madhavanur, chief development officer at Scottsdale, Arizona-based JDA Software, whose products help companies manage supply chains. "We have to compete better to get our fair share." What's happening in the market for software engineers may help illustrate why one of the tightest American labor markets in decades isn't leading to broader wage gains. While technology firms are looking at compensation, they are also finding ways to create the supply of workers themselves, which helps hold costs down.
"It is probably the most competitive market in the last 20 years that I have been doing this," said Desikan Madhavanur, chief development officer at Scottsdale, Arizona-based JDA Software, whose products help companies manage supply chains. "We have to compete better to get our fair share." What's happening in the market for software engineers may help illustrate why one of the tightest American labor markets in decades isn't leading to broader wage gains. While technology firms are looking at compensation, they are also finding ways to create the supply of workers themselves, which helps hold costs down.
If demand is really greater than supply, then programmers should be able to ask for reasonable accommodation from employers (i.e. reasonable working hours and vaca time). If people actually showed a backbone, this has the potential to chance cultures.
While technology firms are looking at compensation, they are also finding ways to create the supply of workers themselves, which helps hold costs down.
And this is why the bosses (as opposed to the usually sincere workers) at Google, Microsoft, etc. are all behind these "teach every person on Earth to code" programs.
I'm sorry if little Suzy doesn't want to code, but we need her to help keep down programmer salaries.
I've demanded to be allowed to work from home for the last 8 years with an occasional few days a month in the office and gotten it.
No, it really isn't that bad. I am a 40 something white male programmer and I know many other 40 something white male programmers and none of them are having trouble getting a job, none of them are getting passed up for hiring or promotion by women or minorities. I suspect the people who complain about it are either just really twisted around and unable to see that they are also not having trouble getting hired and promoted, or they just really aren't as competent as they think they are.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
If I had a company I'd hire 55+ people that have good references. They tend to have stable lives and are regular and predictable in their work. At 55 they aren't suddenly going to have children and completely change their focus and work output like someone who is 30.
If I have a lot of work to get done, and work that never really ends. Then I'd take the dependable farm horse rather than the young racing thoroughbred.
If I have 6 months for my start up to make or break. Then hiring energetic college kids makes some sense, if only initially.
Though I'm pretty old school compared to the trends in tech companies. I think it is beneficial to hire both junior and experienced people. The junior people learn from the senior people. The senior people get exposure to exchange fresh ideas. And strengths of both can be used while weakness are covered in a complimentary way.
PS - sort of related thought... What's insane are the big companies that want to pretend they are just like the startups. Trust me, being a startup sucks sometimes. It's a big disadvantage not having the financial resources to get the stuff you need, or the time to do it right the first time. Having a focus to do exactly one thing in a short amount of time is what a startup is good at. That doesn't scale correctly to a place like Facebook or Google.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire