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Why It's So Hard For NYC Startups To Hire Developers

9 points by pathik 16y ago

ig1 16y ago
It's hard for startups everywhere to hire developers. SF, Boston, London, Cambridge, etc. There's a huge global shortage of developers. I don't think people realize how fast the global demand for software developers is growing. In the UK it's now the 16th most common full-time occupation for men. The UK simply isn't producing developers anywhere fast enough to keep up with growth. I doubt any other country can either.
- gamble 16y ago
  My husband and I are both programmers, and as he has dual UK/Canadian citizenship we were looking into a move to the UK. We found that developer salaries in the UK were shockingly low, even in comparison to Canada. (Which is itself not exactly high-wage compared to the US) Not to mention that the cost of living in the UK is extremely high. If there really is that much demand for programmers, it isn't reflected in salaries.
  - ig1 16y ago
    What sort of figures are you talking about ? The UK varies quite a lot by location and field. In general for a experienced developer in London I'd expect a salary in the region of 35k-60k GBP/57k-96k CAD (the financial sector somewhat above this range; academia below it).
    - gamble 16y ago
      The salaries I saw advertised were mostly around the lower end of that range (~35k GBP) for London. Less elsewhere. In Canada, that's starting salary for someone fresh out of university. $80k-100k CAD would be a good salary for an experienced programmer. Of course, that doesn't take into account the exorbitant cost-of-living and higher taxation in the UK. Plus, it seems like most of the programmer jobs are clustered in the most expensive area around London. Even if we didn't have to take a pay cut to live in the UK, our money would still buy far less than it does here.
      - ig1 16y ago
        35k is what a graduate would get in the UK for somewhere like Google or a tech consultancy, but you wouldn't get that from most non-tech firms. You're right most jobs are clustered around London though and due to the high rent of London it's definitely less affordable than Canada.

9 points by pathik 16y ago

ig1 16y ago

It's hard for startups everywhere to hire developers. SF, Boston, London, Cambridge, etc. There's a huge global shortage of developers. I don't think people realize how fast the global demand for software developers is growing. In the UK it's now the 16th most common full-time occupation for men. The UK simply isn't producing developers anywhere fast enough to keep up with growth. I doubt any other country can either.

gamble 16y ago
My husband and I are both programmers, and as he has dual UK/Canadian citizenship we were looking into a move to the UK. We found that developer salaries in the UK were shockingly low, even in comparison to Canada. (Which is itself not exactly high-wage compared to the US) Not to mention that the cost of living in the UK is extremely high. If there really is that much demand for programmers, it isn't reflected in salaries.
- ig1 16y ago
  What sort of figures are you talking about ? The UK varies quite a lot by location and field. In general for a experienced developer in London I'd expect a salary in the region of 35k-60k GBP/57k-96k CAD (the financial sector somewhat above this range; academia below it).
  - gamble 16y ago
    The salaries I saw advertised were mostly around the lower end of that range (~35k GBP) for London. Less elsewhere. In Canada, that's starting salary for someone fresh out of university. $80k-100k CAD would be a good salary for an experienced programmer. Of course, that doesn't take into account the exorbitant cost-of-living and higher taxation in the UK. Plus, it seems like most of the programmer jobs are clustered in the most expensive area around London. Even if we didn't have to take a pay cut to live in the UK, our money would still buy far less than it does here.
    - ig1 16y ago
      35k is what a graduate would get in the UK for somewhere like Google or a tech consultancy, but you wouldn't get that from most non-tech firms. You're right most jobs are clustered around London though and due to the high rent of London it's definitely less affordable than Canada.