4 ms·

I mean, is there really still a tech worker shortage? People are sending resumes for 6+ months to no avail. Upwork has ran dry.

duxup 2y ago
Yeah my place is hiring, we got inundated with resumes, and frankly a lot of very good resumes compared to what we expected.
bigyabai 2y ago
The tech worker shortage is a myth. Any business that offers a competitive wage is able to hire engineering talent by the boatload, even if they mandate in-person participation five days a week. The "shortage" is a fig leaf to cover up the desperate greed American businesses are feeling as their margins shrink and their supply chains become more fragile.
- anovikov 2y ago
  Are margins really shrinking? Corporate profits stand about constant at around 10% of GDP in the last 30 years or so, apart from the big dip they took around the GFC, quickly recovering thereafter.
- taylodl 2y ago
  What needs to happen is all job posting need to have a salary range. If, after so many months of trying to fill a position and it can't be filled, the company can utilize an H1B visa to fill the position, and the pay must be in that salary range. That would go a long way to resolve H1B abuse, and make it easier for US citizens to get tech jobs.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  Anecdotally, companies are attempting to cram labor costs down by putting off hiring, putting reqs out there with much lower wages than recent historical (<5 years), and outsourcing to India and LATAM at scale while also attempting to assert control by requiring hybrid or full time office attendance. This is in direct conflict with the current admin's anti immigration stance (which is arguably good for domestic workers) and forward looking demographics [1] [2] (also good for workers). More on this macro trend can be found in the book "The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality, and an Inflation Revival" [3]. > The "shortage" is a fig leaf to cover up the desperate greed American businesses are feeling as their margins shrink and their supply chains become more fragile. Truth. There is no shortage, just sadness with regards to market clearing price. [1] US Faces a Deficit of 6 Million Workers in Less Than a Decade - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-18/us-faces-a-deficit-of-6-million-workers-in-less-than-a-decade https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-18/us-faces-... | https://archive.today/Lyr5t https://archive.today/Lyr5t - September 18, 2024 [2] Aging Boomers Explain Shrinking Labor Force, NY Fed Study Says - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-30/aging-boomers-explain-shrinking-labor-force-ny-fed-study-says https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-30/aging-boo... | https://archive.today/nZVda https://archive.today/nZVda - March 30, 2023 ("Population aging is likely to continue to exert strong downward pressure on participation going forward, as more of the baby boomer generation continue to enter retirement,” the researchers wrote.") [3] https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-42657-6 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-42657-6

duxup 2y ago

Yeah my place is hiring, we got inundated with resumes, and frankly a lot of very good resumes compared to what we expected.

bigyabai 2y ago

The tech worker shortage is a myth. Any business that offers a competitive wage is able to hire engineering talent by the boatload, even if they mandate in-person participation five days a week. The "shortage" is a fig leaf to cover up the desperate greed American businesses are feeling as their margins shrink and their supply chains become more fragile.

anovikov 2y ago
Are margins really shrinking? Corporate profits stand about constant at around 10% of GDP in the last 30 years or so, apart from the big dip they took around the GFC, quickly recovering thereafter.
taylodl 2y ago
What needs to happen is all job posting need to have a salary range. If, after so many months of trying to fill a position and it can't be filled, the company can utilize an H1B visa to fill the position, and the pay must be in that salary range. That would go a long way to resolve H1B abuse, and make it easier for US citizens to get tech jobs.
toomuchtodo 2y ago
Anecdotally, companies are attempting to cram labor costs down by putting off hiring, putting reqs out there with much lower wages than recent historical (<5 years), and outsourcing to India and LATAM at scale while also attempting to assert control by requiring hybrid or full time office attendance. This is in direct conflict with the current admin's anti immigration stance (which is arguably good for domestic workers) and forward looking demographics [1] [2] (also good for workers). More on this macro trend can be found in the book "The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality, and an Inflation Revival" [3]. > The "shortage" is a fig leaf to cover up the desperate greed American businesses are feeling as their margins shrink and their supply chains become more fragile. Truth. There is no shortage, just sadness with regards to market clearing price. [1] US Faces a Deficit of 6 Million Workers in Less Than a Decade - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-18/us-faces-a-deficit-of-6-million-workers-in-less-than-a-decade https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-18/us-faces-... | https://archive.today/Lyr5t https://archive.today/Lyr5t - September 18, 2024 [2] Aging Boomers Explain Shrinking Labor Force, NY Fed Study Says - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-30/aging-boomers-explain-shrinking-labor-force-ny-fed-study-says https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-30/aging-boo... | https://archive.today/nZVda https://archive.today/nZVda - March 30, 2023 ("Population aging is likely to continue to exert strong downward pressure on participation going forward, as more of the baby boomer generation continue to enter retirement,” the researchers wrote.") [3] https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-42657-6 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-42657-6