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As an employee I would love for this to be true. But I think employers, especially in North America will resist this. There’s already a worker shortage and wit

by tra3 4y ago

As an employee I would love for this to be true. But I think employers, especially in North America will resist this. There’s already a worker shortage and with the boomer generation retiring we are going to lose further workers. Don’t see how businesses are going to be ok with employees only working part time. I feel like the transition will happen eventually but it’s going to be similar to wfh transition. Much like we had to have COVID to wfh, we may need another similar event like that for part time to get accepted.

layer8 4y ago
OTOH, worker shortage means that employees have greater leverage. Better have someone work part-time for you than for a different employer.
VoodooJuJu 4y ago
>worker shortage Which industries? Not software, right? Because then I'll read about some 300+ applications per job vacancy, 8 flaming hoops to jump through if the Lady Fortuna grants you an interview, and an absence of courtesy because of how many other grunts are lined up - who has the time to email back an applicant anyway? My head is spinning, I don't know what to make of it all.
- AnimalMuppet 4y ago
  For an opening at a FAANG paying $300k, sure. For, say, a senior Android developer position in a smaller city, you can look for months to get a decent applicant. (You'll get some "sure, I can code in Android" people with 3 months cranking out a little app for someone, but solid people with experience are rare.)
- tra3 4y ago
  I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but it’s a different problem. The labour shortage is not constrained to just IT — it’s a global trend. This is one of those things that reasonably easy to verify. Check out the population pyramid in US 0. It’s relatively balanced, but other countries look much worse, see China for example. What this means is that we are not replacing folks that are retiring with new workers, and this process only accelerating. The long term trend seems pretty clear. 0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_Sta...
- adam_arthur 4y ago
  The only reason there's wage inflation in software to begin with is because demand for labor exceeds supply. In the long run the 500k wages will compress back closer to median wages in real terms. Wage has very little to do with value add of the worker, its about the equilibrium price which is determined by supply an demand. Value add just sets a ceiling
Buttons840 4y ago
A worker shortage can lead to more part-time work if it's a real shortage. If an employee says their only willing to work part-time and the company says no thanks, is the company really that short on workers?

by tra3 4y ago

layer8 4y ago

OTOH, worker shortage means that employees have greater leverage. Better have someone work part-time for you than for a different employer.

VoodooJuJu 4y ago

>worker shortage Which industries? Not software, right? Because then I'll read about some 300+ applications per job vacancy, 8 flaming hoops to jump through if the Lady Fortuna grants you an interview, and an absence of courtesy because of how many other grunts are lined up - who has the time to email back an applicant anyway? My head is spinning, I don't know what to make of it all.

AnimalMuppet 4y ago
For an opening at a FAANG paying $300k, sure. For, say, a senior Android developer position in a smaller city, you can look for months to get a decent applicant. (You'll get some "sure, I can code in Android" people with 3 months cranking out a little app for someone, but solid people with experience are rare.)
tra3 4y ago
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but it’s a different problem. The labour shortage is not constrained to just IT — it’s a global trend. This is one of those things that reasonably easy to verify. Check out the population pyramid in US 0. It’s relatively balanced, but other countries look much worse, see China for example. What this means is that we are not replacing folks that are retiring with new workers, and this process only accelerating. The long term trend seems pretty clear. 0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_Sta...
adam_arthur 4y ago
The only reason there's wage inflation in software to begin with is because demand for labor exceeds supply. In the long run the 500k wages will compress back closer to median wages in real terms. Wage has very little to do with value add of the worker, its about the equilibrium price which is determined by supply an demand. Value add just sets a ceiling

Buttons840 4y ago

A worker shortage can lead to more part-time work if it's a real shortage. If an employee says their only willing to work part-time and the company says no thanks, is the company really that short on workers?