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The comments here are viscerally disturbing, and not for reasons that might jump to mind, meaning I don't really mind the merit-driven mindset when it's aptly a

The comments here are viscerally disturbing, and not for reasons that might jump to mind, meaning I don't really mind the merit-driven mindset when it's aptly applied. It's not in this case. It's one thing to value merit over politics -- I'd expect nothing less from my peers in the bay. However, it's an entirely different matter to value merit over long term strategic objectives, and from what I can tell, an alarming number of commenters here are bereft of any understanding of the long term implications of not striving to increase the potential engineering talent pool. We in the US are in a situation where: 1) talent is scarce 2) companies, startups more specifically, are now less willing to hire international talent for fear of visa/etc. risks in the current age, 3) politics are disincentivizing efforts to broaden the talent pool via obvious means -- such as by reintroducing and motivating women to participate. The end result of this isn't going to be job security for existing participants in the tech industry here in the US. It's going to be the flight of entrepreneurs to talent centers where talent can be acquired more reasonably, and right now, that's starting to look less and less like the United States given the above. Shoot, even YC is broadening beyond these geographical and political boundaries through tools like Startup School. If your goal's to keep our tech industry in the US from becoming a laggard, it's in your interest to encourage the system to strategically start motivating and representing the population space more accurately. Otherwise, the talent drought will just drive ideas overseas. (I apologize to any overseas readers reading my comment. I hope you understand.) TL;DR: very few people here are thinking about this from a long term strategic angle; it seems like everyone's just concerned about their own jobs.

realusername 9y ago
The comments here are pointing the obvious data behind hiring in tech, if you have <10% women working in Software engineering, you can't have 50% women working in every tech company. The issue cannot be fixed in any way by changing hiring policies.
- eganist 9y ago
  > The issue cannot be fixed in any way by changing hiring policies. ...it's a strategic play. Changing hiring needs influences post-secondary institutions which influences secondary and primary schooling decisions at the policy level, or such is what's envisioned. Same as I've said above. I also made a point about people not understanding the strategic play, which you've evidently validated.
vdnkh 9y ago
> 1) talent is scarce Can I get a source for this?
- eganist 9y ago
  https://hackernoon.com/2018s-software-engineering-talent-shortage-its-quality-not-just-quantity-6bdfa366b899 https://hackernoon.com/2018s-software-engineering-talent-sho... https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/02/19/the-war-for-tech-talent-escalates/ejUSbuPCjPLCMRYlRZIKoJ/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/02/19/the-war-for-... https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3900575 https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3900575 And a seemingly contrarian source which actually supports the argument I made: https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/12/the-tech-talent-shortage-is-a-lie/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/12/the-tech-talent-shortage-i... > Racial And Gender Inequality > Opportunity inequality has become so pervasive that minority tech employees are banding together with the explicit purpose of increasing their numbers in the space. If you’re a tech leader, you must fight against this inequality to benefit from talented people of all stripes. > Racial minorities are woefully underrepresented in the tech industry. And it’s not just a matter of race, either. Many don’t remember it, but women were once much more prevalent in tech. However, the proportion of female computer science students has halved since its heyday in the mid-1980s. And the women who do enter engineering are leaving at an astonishing rate. > These problems aren’t self-correcting; their resolution requires dedication from leadership. We’re all obligated to take the first step to reverse this worrisome, decades-long minority flight by acknowledging the issue and magnifying diverse voices. > If our industry has any hope of becoming more inclusive — which is a key step to solving our so-called “talent shortage” — we must be understanding, empathetic and open to others’ viewpoints. Would you like me to go on? I thought the talent scarcity problem was obvious, but I've got no qualms with more sourcing.
- simonsarris 9y ago
  > Why, in spite of high wages and cultural/economic importance of tech, has the number of CS majors has been basically flat for 15 years? https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/why-is-computer-science-enrollment-so-low-dea064c2f7f0 https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/why-is-computer-science-enr...
jon_e_pizza 9y ago
> 3) politics are disincentivizing efforts to broaden the talent pool via obvious means -- such as by reintroducing and motivating women to participate. You're literally replying to a company's public post that they discriminated in favor of women. Yet you think our general politics are disincentivizing to women? You are a very confused person.

realusername 9y ago

The comments here are pointing the obvious data behind hiring in tech, if you have <10% women working in Software engineering, you can't have 50% women working in every tech company. The issue cannot be fixed in any way by changing hiring policies.

eganist 9y ago
> The issue cannot be fixed in any way by changing hiring policies. ...it's a strategic play. Changing hiring needs influences post-secondary institutions which influences secondary and primary schooling decisions at the policy level, or such is what's envisioned. Same as I've said above. I also made a point about people not understanding the strategic play, which you've evidently validated.

vdnkh 9y ago

> 1) talent is scarce Can I get a source for this?

eganist 9y ago
https://hackernoon.com/2018s-software-engineering-talent-shortage-its-quality-not-just-quantity-6bdfa366b899 https://hackernoon.com/2018s-software-engineering-talent-sho... https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/02/19/the-war-for-tech-talent-escalates/ejUSbuPCjPLCMRYlRZIKoJ/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/02/19/the-war-for-... https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3900575 https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3900575 And a seemingly contrarian source which actually supports the argument I made: https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/12/the-tech-talent-shortage-is-a-lie/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/11/12/the-tech-talent-shortage-i... > Racial And Gender Inequality > Opportunity inequality has become so pervasive that minority tech employees are banding together with the explicit purpose of increasing their numbers in the space. If you’re a tech leader, you must fight against this inequality to benefit from talented people of all stripes. > Racial minorities are woefully underrepresented in the tech industry. And it’s not just a matter of race, either. Many don’t remember it, but women were once much more prevalent in tech. However, the proportion of female computer science students has halved since its heyday in the mid-1980s. And the women who do enter engineering are leaving at an astonishing rate. > These problems aren’t self-correcting; their resolution requires dedication from leadership. We’re all obligated to take the first step to reverse this worrisome, decades-long minority flight by acknowledging the issue and magnifying diverse voices. > If our industry has any hope of becoming more inclusive — which is a key step to solving our so-called “talent shortage” — we must be understanding, empathetic and open to others’ viewpoints. Would you like me to go on? I thought the talent scarcity problem was obvious, but I've got no qualms with more sourcing.
simonsarris 9y ago
> Why, in spite of high wages and cultural/economic importance of tech, has the number of CS majors has been basically flat for 15 years? https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/why-is-computer-science-enrollment-so-low-dea064c2f7f0 https://medium.com/@simon.sarris/why-is-computer-science-enr...

jon_e_pizza 9y ago

> 3) politics are disincentivizing efforts to broaden the talent pool via obvious means -- such as by reintroducing and motivating women to participate. You're literally replying to a company's public post that they discriminated in favor of women. Yet you think our general politics are disincentivizing to women? You are a very confused person.