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I keep seeing articles like this that fail to point out an important fact. The economy has been strong for a long time and it is a workers market. Once there

I keep seeing articles like this that fail to point out an important fact. The economy has been strong for a long time and it is a workers market. Once there is another downturn it will be an employers market. Job hoppers will be lucky to land interviews, much less command high salaries. That is unless you are in the top % of your skill level or have some skill like Oracle DBA that is highly sought after. I worry about younger people shaping their world view and career around the last 10 years. I did that an in 2002 when I was laid off it was a painful few years of realization not finding work.

jazzyk 9y ago
Two points: - 2% GDP growth is not exactly what I would call "strong economy": http://www.multpl.com/us-real-gdp-growth-rate http://www.multpl.com/us-real-gdp-growth-rate - it is not a workers market - if it had been, incomes would not have stagnated I do agree with the rest of your post, though. Things will get even tougher.
- PeterisP 9y ago
  The technology growth and the technology labor market is quite different from the rest of the economy; we're seeing a much higher GDP growth in this sector, much lower unemployment than the average of all industries, and incomes haven't really stagnated in our domain.
- s73ver 9y ago
  "- it is not a workers market - if it had been, incomes would not have stagnated" In general, no. But in terms of software engineering, it very much is.
  - jazzyk 9y ago
    There are a few pockets of good markets, I am sure. But the whole shortage myth is created by companies (often startups) posting "Magician" ads. Example of a "Magician" ad: "Looking for a PhD + min 10 years of experience in a very narrow domain we are trying to provide a solution for (Big Data experience in Scala required). The hire will need to do his/her magic to get us out of the s... we are in, because we don't quite know what we are doing. We pay $60K/year in Boston."
losteverything 9y ago
And.. I doubt anyone today believes their skill set will be in demand 20 years from now. Get as much as you can right now... Cause there is no guarantee of a future

jazzyk 9y ago

Two points: - 2% GDP growth is not exactly what I would call "strong economy": http://www.multpl.com/us-real-gdp-growth-rate http://www.multpl.com/us-real-gdp-growth-rate - it is not a workers market - if it had been, incomes would not have stagnated I do agree with the rest of your post, though. Things will get even tougher.

PeterisP 9y ago
The technology growth and the technology labor market is quite different from the rest of the economy; we're seeing a much higher GDP growth in this sector, much lower unemployment than the average of all industries, and incomes haven't really stagnated in our domain.
s73ver 9y ago
"- it is not a workers market - if it had been, incomes would not have stagnated" In general, no. But in terms of software engineering, it very much is.
- jazzyk 9y ago
  There are a few pockets of good markets, I am sure. But the whole shortage myth is created by companies (often startups) posting "Magician" ads. Example of a "Magician" ad: "Looking for a PhD + min 10 years of experience in a very narrow domain we are trying to provide a solution for (Big Data experience in Scala required). The hire will need to do his/her magic to get us out of the s... we are in, because we don't quite know what we are doing. We pay $60K/year in Boston."

losteverything 9y ago

And.. I doubt anyone today believes their skill set will be in demand 20 years from now. Get as much as you can right now... Cause there is no guarantee of a future