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This is the first time I've seen anybody say "The US has plenty of tech workers" – every single IT company I know is desperately trying to hire people, all the
by atonse 8y ago
This is the first time I've seen anybody say "The US has plenty of tech workers" – every single IT company I know is desperately trying to hire people, all the time. And this is at multiple tiers: innovative consumer companies, government contractors, small web design shops, large companies looking to bolster their teams.
And regarding your H1b comment, I have posted about 10 jobs in my career. In every single one, 95% of applicants were "foreigners" (work visa holders, new college grads) – the sufficient talent pool just isn't there locally, we have to fill it with more immigrants coming to our shores. And we weren't at all looking at cost at that point.
The only class of people I constantly hear are starting to feel the pain of being less in demand in IT, are older people.
- wnevets 8y ago> every single IT company I know is desperately trying to hire people, all the time. have they tried increasing the pay?
- itronitron 8y ago>> every single IT company I know is desperately trying to hire people Encourage them to list their open positions on the monthly Who's Hiring thread.
- gnarcoregrizz 8y agoWhatever, I'm a citizen, 29yo, and have been rejected from enough tech jobs that I don't bother applying or looking anymore because I'm not going through the ridiculous interview processes. The last one I applied to (Amazon), I had to study a bunch of leetcrap, fly out on-site to get rejected by some dudes who were checked out the whole time. Other companies pay is so low that it's not worth it, simply because it's really expensive to own a home here. If tech workers were really in demand, all of the above wouldn't be the case. The only way to win the game is to not play it. I'm staying put.
- stirfrykitty 8y agoTypical behavior from IT companies. I once interviewed with a large distribution company who needed a firewall engineer, something I did along with pen testing for almost 5 years. They hired the guy with the masters right out of Baylor because... he had a masters. He failed the firewall test we both sat through. He didn't know that firewalls route before they NAT. He didn't know what a state table was or how they are used. He didn't know how to set up a multi-spoke VPN. I knew and know all of that. Yet... he got the job even though he likely couldn't find his ass with both hands. I've learned to not be as bitter about stuff like this because most of the time, good employers value experience over education, as they should. There is not much I cannot do given the chance, yet being given the chance is the operative word.
- stirfrykitty 8y agoI'm in Houston, the 4th largest city in America. We have tons of qualified IT workers, yet the big companies all prefer to hire the foreigners. They're cheaper. I attend tech get-togethers enough to know this. Half the guys in the meetings are under 30, degreed, talented, but the companies still hire the foreigners. Trust me, there are PLENTY of IT people here.
- atonse 8y agoGood to hear! What meetups do you attend? (serious question). I'd love to make a trip out there (I'm in DC) to find some local talent. Maybe we'll open up a satellite Houston office if this is truly the case. :-)
- stirfrykitty 8y agoI am part of several of these: https://www.meetup.com/find/tech/?allMeetups=false&radius=25&userFreeform=Houston%2C+TX&mcId=c77001&mcName=Houston%2C+TX&sort=default https://www.meetup.com/find/tech/?allMeetups=false&radius=25... But you can see the vast numbers of people involved, this being a massive city with tons of talented people living here.