4 ms·

Ask HN: Is the Tech Market Saturated?

13 points by jerawaj749 3y ago

it is easy to enter the dev world and get a job in the past but it becomes hard year after year and the comapnies demand a lot of skills and years of experience to get a job

rossdavidh 3y ago
There were a lot of tech startups that hired big in 2020-2022, that laid off in 2023. This doesn't mean it will never be a good market for devs again, but it does mean that it will take a little while for all those laid off devs to find spots again. In some cases, companies that had given up on being able to hire their own devs, will need to notice that it is now possible again, and that it can be useful to have their own employee who can do glue logic, etc. It takes time for an economic change of this size to be "digested". When you see a job posting with very precise skill sets required, and many years, that often means that they already know who they want to put in the job, but for legal reasons they have to post it. Which doesn't necessarily mean there's no point in applying; you might get their attention for another position, even if the original one they already have someone in mind for. But, this year is probably going to be tough.
hanniabu 3y ago
It's getting there. If you're just starting out and like working with your hands, I highly recommend going into the trades. The labor force isv heavily weighted towards older workers and there's huge demand for fresh blood. It'll be a license to print money.
cj 3y ago
I think the answer is “yes” if you’re someone who graduated a bootcamp a couple years ago and were hired straight into a $150k+ position with little experience. The answer is “no” if you have 5-10 years of experience OR are accepting the fact that you might not be able to earn the same salary as 2-3 years ago.
- Volundr 3y ago
  Just anecdata from the people around me, but I think the OR may well be and AND, plus the added caveat that finding something new will take significantly longer than in the past.
  - karmajunkie 3y ago
    i think the AND is temporarily true because of temporary market conditions—it’s unlikely to remain so indefinitely. for that matter, the dearth of entry level developer jobs is also temporary, though i think it’ll be the last to recover and the bootcamps will keep that end of the market semi saturated with grads as soon as it shows signs of recovery.
maltalex 3y ago
The economy in general is bad, possibly in a recession. Companies are tightening their belts not just in the tech sector. I don't know if "saturated" is the right word though. There are still shortages of skilled, experienced techies.
- sundaeofshock 3y ago
  How do you figure? It might be tough in tech, but pretty much every sector is looking good. Unemployment rate, GDP, unemployment claims, inflation, consumer confidence, and disposal income all look good.
  - maltalex 3y ago
    Should have pointed out that I'm talking about Canada. Our GDP isn't great, and although unemployment is stable, the participation rate in Dec was 61.6%, down from 62.5% in Jan 2023. So, fewer people are working. Anecdotally, people around me have been having a hard time finding work in various fields, even as experienced professionals.
mech422 3y ago
Personally, I don't' think so... And, conversely, with thousands of boomers expected to retire every _day_ for the next 5+ years, I think the demand will start hitting new peaks in the next year or two.

13 points by jerawaj749 3y ago

it is easy to enter the dev world and get a job in the past but it becomes hard year after year and the comapnies demand a lot of skills and years of experience to get a job

rossdavidh 3y ago

There were a lot of tech startups that hired big in 2020-2022, that laid off in 2023. This doesn't mean it will never be a good market for devs again, but it does mean that it will take a little while for all those laid off devs to find spots again. In some cases, companies that had given up on being able to hire their own devs, will need to notice that it is now possible again, and that it can be useful to have their own employee who can do glue logic, etc. It takes time for an economic change of this size to be "digested". When you see a job posting with very precise skill sets required, and many years, that often means that they already know who they want to put in the job, but for legal reasons they have to post it. Which doesn't necessarily mean there's no point in applying; you might get their attention for another position, even if the original one they already have someone in mind for. But, this year is probably going to be tough.

hanniabu 3y ago

It's getting there. If you're just starting out and like working with your hands, I highly recommend going into the trades. The labor force isv heavily weighted towards older workers and there's huge demand for fresh blood. It'll be a license to print money.

cj 3y ago

I think the answer is “yes” if you’re someone who graduated a bootcamp a couple years ago and were hired straight into a $150k+ position with little experience. The answer is “no” if you have 5-10 years of experience OR are accepting the fact that you might not be able to earn the same salary as 2-3 years ago.

Volundr 3y ago
Just anecdata from the people around me, but I think the OR may well be and AND, plus the added caveat that finding something new will take significantly longer than in the past.
- karmajunkie 3y ago
  i think the AND is temporarily true because of temporary market conditions—it’s unlikely to remain so indefinitely. for that matter, the dearth of entry level developer jobs is also temporary, though i think it’ll be the last to recover and the bootcamps will keep that end of the market semi saturated with grads as soon as it shows signs of recovery.

maltalex 3y ago

The economy in general is bad, possibly in a recession. Companies are tightening their belts not just in the tech sector. I don't know if "saturated" is the right word though. There are still shortages of skilled, experienced techies.

sundaeofshock 3y ago
How do you figure? It might be tough in tech, but pretty much every sector is looking good. Unemployment rate, GDP, unemployment claims, inflation, consumer confidence, and disposal income all look good.
- maltalex 3y ago
  Should have pointed out that I'm talking about Canada. Our GDP isn't great, and although unemployment is stable, the participation rate in Dec was 61.6%, down from 62.5% in Jan 2023. So, fewer people are working. Anecdotally, people around me have been having a hard time finding work in various fields, even as experienced professionals.

mech422 3y ago

Personally, I don't' think so... And, conversely, with thousands of boomers expected to retire every _day_ for the next 5+ years, I think the demand will start hitting new peaks in the next year or two.