That sounds bad indeed. Here it is a bit better. Most positions I know of are de facto permanent. On paper they are not, as most labs go through 5-year funding

That sounds bad indeed. Here it is a bit better. Most positions I know of are de facto permanent. On paper they are not, as most labs go through 5-year funding cycles. So there's a tiny chance of loosing funding. It's quite rare for big labs. Besides, places like MRC have created permanent research assistant positions. Which are actually permanent and put zero pressure on publications. As you say, connecting with interested and talented programmers is another problem. I feel that Nature Jobs postings, which were already a big leap forward for rusty uni administrators, are not good enough.