5 ms·

Silicon Valley job growth has reached dot-com boom levels, report says

48 points by Lightning 14y ago

jtchang 14y ago
So when do I get to go to a launch party held on an aircraft carrier?
- rms 14y ago
  http://www.uss-hornet.org/groups/corporate/ http://www.uss-hornet.org/groups/corporate/ Just keep waiting for someone to book it...
- wl 14y ago
  Hurricane Electric hosted a customer appreciation party on the USS Hornet a year or so back.
jquery 14y ago
This is cause for euphoria, yes, but also a moment to reflect on the lessons of the past. Let us forge our path forward with sobriety and humility this time, and embrace a more disciplined and sustainable future.
- yen223 14y ago
  Or maybe we should let it blow up, so that tech jobs will go back to non-SV locations :D
espinchi 14y ago
It's a great time to be a software developer. However, this can't last forever. For those of you that have also experienced the low times in this industry. What do you recommend in order to be ready for a potential big change? By a big change, I mean when the moment comes where developers are not so highly demanded, so well paid, so nicely appreciated.
- cageface 14y ago
  Always be learning something new and try to anticipate what specific skills will be in demand a year or two from now. My favorite thing about this profession is that you have to be learning new things constantly.
- pkorzeniewski 14y ago
  I don't think this will happen soon, maybe you will have to learn new technologies, but demand for software developers should still be high in the near future. Let's be honest, everything is being automated and moved to the internet and there is still a lot to do, I would even say we're just at the beginning of the path.
- lysol 14y ago
  Keep some contacts in the non-startup world. When the shit hits the fan people are still going to need boring-ass ecommerce and the like.
sincerely_ 14y ago
There's a tech boom going on in the bay area, and it seems like I'm constantly reading comments here on HN about how companies are having to scramble to find enough people with programming skill to fill the jobs being created. I hope this is true, and I have a related question. Let's say you have a 22-year-old living in the bay with no post-high school education and no programming experience. How far does this boom go? If he's smart, can he get a job out of this if he decides, today, to self-study as hard as he can and see if he has an aptitude for this kind of thing? Are there 'low-level' jobs being created for the non-rockstars, too? Argh, it's really hard to keep this impersonal. Obviously this is me, and I want really badly to be told I have a shot. I genuinely have no idea whether this is a pipe dream. Thanks to anyone who responds--a job counselor I asked was "encouraging", but somehow I feel like a semi-anonymous HN comment would be worth more....
- thetrumanshow 14y ago
  I think you certainly have a solid shot at being successful at this. Heck, that's true even in a down market and/or in places other than SV, but I also think you're lack of interest in the field up until now might suggest that you'll end up hating it. Build something and launch it in public (by which I mean a product). You'll prove both an aptitude and a willingness to see something to the end, which to many people will be as good as a degree, and you'll find out if you love this field or hate it. If you start, make sure you finish. Get someone to hold you accountable to this if necessary.
- tolvak 14y ago
  Your best bet for getting companies to be willing to take a risk on you, if you have no relevant education or work experience yet, is to start working on side projects(that you can share on places like GitHub), contributing to open source, maybe work on a phone app or two and release them (depending on where your interests lie exactly in the software world). Perhaps gather these into a slick, well designed, simple web site, basically saying what you said above. Anything tangible that will make people more excited about giving you a shot. They likely won't be willing to just take your word that you were a proficient self-study, but if your work is good, some people will be willing to look beyond just the education. While you are trying to teach yourself, take a bit of time to get a basic familiarity with Computer Science concepts (data structures, algorithms, common design patterns, and OO concepts if applicable, etc). These can often seem unnecessary and overly complicated to a self taught developer (speaking from experience), but they can really help with writing nicer, cleaner, more efficient code in the long run. One thing that helped move me in the right direction for my career was starting a couple of web sites for ideas I had for various niche communities (I had dreams of grandeur and selling my websites for millions, ha). They both failed miserably, and never really generated a sustainable user base. However, I learned a ton in the process about web technologies from front end to the database side of things, and having that on my resume really helped in start-up interviews, as it was a mentality that people in those circles could relate to.
beatpanda 14y ago
Can some of these jobs please go somewhere else? Pretty please? There's no good reason all of this growth needs to be concentrated in the Bay Area, and it is hurting long-term residents in favor of people who will, in all likelihood, not be here in 5-10 years.
- dasil003 14y ago
  Tech job growth is happening everywhere, it's just that macroeconomically it only moves the needle in places like SV where it's a big enough percentage of the overall job market. I'm curious how to figure that a strong job market is hurting local residents though. If you plan on living in a place for a long time the worst thing that could happen is job loss.
  - criley 14y ago
    Startup millionaires driving up housing prices to ridiculous levels, I imagine.
    - dasil003 14y ago
      But if you live there then this helps your property values. Otherwise why not live in Detroit?
      - beatpanda 14y ago
        Assuming you own, which most residents of San Francisco do not. Long term residents are getting pushed out of their homes and have nowhere to go, and the tech community refuses to take responsibility for its part in this.
- snowwrestler 14y ago
  There are a ton of software development jobs open in the DC area. The companies are not as sexy as Twitter or Google, but they're hiring.
speeder 14y ago
I wish this were affecting São Paulo, here we do have a kinda thriving tech industry but if you are earning 60k you are the manager with 20 years of experience. I code mobile games here and get around 20k, and this is already way more than my peers, and don't pay my bills ( and I don't have a car, or a house, a videogame, or even a watch, my most valuable possessions are my glasses and my phone, and the last one I never paid, it was a gift ) I am sure if more SV companies learned how to use telecommuting they would have a decline in costs, as all those third world coders are crazy to get even scraps is SV and work for 40, 50k.
- seanmcdirmid 14y ago
  So why not move? Ideally, you should compete on a global market. Even an entry level programmer from a good university can do better than that in Beijing.
  - speeder 14y ago
    I won't move without a solid offer first. (and not for 50k). I have things to take care here, and if I ever move, I need to be stable enough and have money enough to return here sometimes to see how things are going. I cannot just go adventuring and move without a chance of getting a job first.
    - argonaut 14y ago
      You can see a bit of the chicken-and-egg problem here. You're not willing to move without an offer. Yet your chances of getting an offer are dramatically multiplied if you do move to the Bay Area, even if only for a few months. Telecommuting has a bit of a bad rap at many companies.
      - yen223 14y ago
        As a guy from a different third-world country, I could point out something: travelling to the US is not cheap for us. A flight ticket to San Francisco alone costs me about 1 month's salary, and that's before considering living expenses and the painful 3x currency conversion rate. Visa applications aren't cheap, and is a major pain in the ass to apply for. In other words, I can understand why speeder won't simply up and shift to SF. Simply put, I cannot afford to go the US without a solid job offer.
ericabiz 14y ago
This article is Silicon Valley-centric...but other metros are growing as fast or faster. Austin, TX (where I live now after being in the Valley for 10 years) also added a similar amount of jobs in 2012: http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/texas/austin/ http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/texas/austin/ Many of those jobs are in high-tech. A nice side benefit is that, due to the much lower tax rate and cheaper cost of living, you can actually be comfortable on a lower salary. My co-founder rents a 2000-sq.ft. house for $1250/mo. tl;dr: Check out areas other than the Valley as well if you want a job in tech, and factor in quality-of-life to your decision on where to live.
- JohnCohorn 14y ago
  Austin is a great place to be. I haven't found a place with better balance of big city amenities and pay/cost of living ratio. You can live here as cheap(used to have $325 rent with one roommate) or as spendy as you prefer. Been living here for some time, lots of tech companies and a healthy community of people that do software. There are even startups - I'm starting with one in a couple of weeks.

48 points by Lightning 14y ago

jtchang 14y ago

So when do I get to go to a launch party held on an aircraft carrier?

rms 14y ago
http://www.uss-hornet.org/groups/corporate/ http://www.uss-hornet.org/groups/corporate/ Just keep waiting for someone to book it...
wl 14y ago
Hurricane Electric hosted a customer appreciation party on the USS Hornet a year or so back.

jquery 14y ago

This is cause for euphoria, yes, but also a moment to reflect on the lessons of the past. Let us forge our path forward with sobriety and humility this time, and embrace a more disciplined and sustainable future.

yen223 14y ago
Or maybe we should let it blow up, so that tech jobs will go back to non-SV locations :D

espinchi 14y ago

It's a great time to be a software developer. However, this can't last forever. For those of you that have also experienced the low times in this industry. What do you recommend in order to be ready for a potential big change? By a big change, I mean when the moment comes where developers are not so highly demanded, so well paid, so nicely appreciated.

cageface 14y ago
Always be learning something new and try to anticipate what specific skills will be in demand a year or two from now. My favorite thing about this profession is that you have to be learning new things constantly.
pkorzeniewski 14y ago
I don't think this will happen soon, maybe you will have to learn new technologies, but demand for software developers should still be high in the near future. Let's be honest, everything is being automated and moved to the internet and there is still a lot to do, I would even say we're just at the beginning of the path.
lysol 14y ago
Keep some contacts in the non-startup world. When the shit hits the fan people are still going to need boring-ass ecommerce and the like.

sincerely_ 14y ago

There's a tech boom going on in the bay area, and it seems like I'm constantly reading comments here on HN about how companies are having to scramble to find enough people with programming skill to fill the jobs being created. I hope this is true, and I have a related question. Let's say you have a 22-year-old living in the bay with no post-high school education and no programming experience. How far does this boom go? If he's smart, can he get a job out of this if he decides, today, to self-study as hard as he can and see if he has an aptitude for this kind of thing? Are there 'low-level' jobs being created for the non-rockstars, too? Argh, it's really hard to keep this impersonal. Obviously this is me, and I want really badly to be told I have a shot. I genuinely have no idea whether this is a pipe dream. Thanks to anyone who responds--a job counselor I asked was "encouraging", but somehow I feel like a semi-anonymous HN comment would be worth more....

thetrumanshow 14y ago
I think you certainly have a solid shot at being successful at this. Heck, that's true even in a down market and/or in places other than SV, but I also think you're lack of interest in the field up until now might suggest that you'll end up hating it. Build something and launch it in public (by which I mean a product). You'll prove both an aptitude and a willingness to see something to the end, which to many people will be as good as a degree, and you'll find out if you love this field or hate it. If you start, make sure you finish. Get someone to hold you accountable to this if necessary.
tolvak 14y ago
Your best bet for getting companies to be willing to take a risk on you, if you have no relevant education or work experience yet, is to start working on side projects(that you can share on places like GitHub), contributing to open source, maybe work on a phone app or two and release them (depending on where your interests lie exactly in the software world). Perhaps gather these into a slick, well designed, simple web site, basically saying what you said above. Anything tangible that will make people more excited about giving you a shot. They likely won't be willing to just take your word that you were a proficient self-study, but if your work is good, some people will be willing to look beyond just the education. While you are trying to teach yourself, take a bit of time to get a basic familiarity with Computer Science concepts (data structures, algorithms, common design patterns, and OO concepts if applicable, etc). These can often seem unnecessary and overly complicated to a self taught developer (speaking from experience), but they can really help with writing nicer, cleaner, more efficient code in the long run. One thing that helped move me in the right direction for my career was starting a couple of web sites for ideas I had for various niche communities (I had dreams of grandeur and selling my websites for millions, ha). They both failed miserably, and never really generated a sustainable user base. However, I learned a ton in the process about web technologies from front end to the database side of things, and having that on my resume really helped in start-up interviews, as it was a mentality that people in those circles could relate to.

beatpanda 14y ago

Can some of these jobs please go somewhere else? Pretty please? There's no good reason all of this growth needs to be concentrated in the Bay Area, and it is hurting long-term residents in favor of people who will, in all likelihood, not be here in 5-10 years.

dasil003 14y ago
Tech job growth is happening everywhere, it's just that macroeconomically it only moves the needle in places like SV where it's a big enough percentage of the overall job market. I'm curious how to figure that a strong job market is hurting local residents though. If you plan on living in a place for a long time the worst thing that could happen is job loss.
- criley 14y ago
  Startup millionaires driving up housing prices to ridiculous levels, I imagine.
  - dasil003 14y ago
    But if you live there then this helps your property values. Otherwise why not live in Detroit?
    - beatpanda 14y ago
      Assuming you own, which most residents of San Francisco do not. Long term residents are getting pushed out of their homes and have nowhere to go, and the tech community refuses to take responsibility for its part in this.
snowwrestler 14y ago
There are a ton of software development jobs open in the DC area. The companies are not as sexy as Twitter or Google, but they're hiring.

speeder 14y ago

I wish this were affecting São Paulo, here we do have a kinda thriving tech industry but if you are earning 60k you are the manager with 20 years of experience. I code mobile games here and get around 20k, and this is already way more than my peers, and don't pay my bills ( and I don't have a car, or a house, a videogame, or even a watch, my most valuable possessions are my glasses and my phone, and the last one I never paid, it was a gift ) I am sure if more SV companies learned how to use telecommuting they would have a decline in costs, as all those third world coders are crazy to get even scraps is SV and work for 40, 50k.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago
So why not move? Ideally, you should compete on a global market. Even an entry level programmer from a good university can do better than that in Beijing.
- speeder 14y ago
  I won't move without a solid offer first. (and not for 50k). I have things to take care here, and if I ever move, I need to be stable enough and have money enough to return here sometimes to see how things are going. I cannot just go adventuring and move without a chance of getting a job first.
  - argonaut 14y ago
    You can see a bit of the chicken-and-egg problem here. You're not willing to move without an offer. Yet your chances of getting an offer are dramatically multiplied if you do move to the Bay Area, even if only for a few months. Telecommuting has a bit of a bad rap at many companies.
    - yen223 14y ago
      As a guy from a different third-world country, I could point out something: travelling to the US is not cheap for us. A flight ticket to San Francisco alone costs me about 1 month's salary, and that's before considering living expenses and the painful 3x currency conversion rate. Visa applications aren't cheap, and is a major pain in the ass to apply for. In other words, I can understand why speeder won't simply up and shift to SF. Simply put, I cannot afford to go the US without a solid job offer.

ericabiz 14y ago

This article is Silicon Valley-centric...but other metros are growing as fast or faster. Austin, TX (where I live now after being in the Valley for 10 years) also added a similar amount of jobs in 2012: http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/texas/austin/ http://www.deptofnumbers.com/employment/texas/austin/ Many of those jobs are in high-tech. A nice side benefit is that, due to the much lower tax rate and cheaper cost of living, you can actually be comfortable on a lower salary. My co-founder rents a 2000-sq.ft. house for $1250/mo. tl;dr: Check out areas other than the Valley as well if you want a job in tech, and factor in quality-of-life to your decision on where to live.

JohnCohorn 14y ago
Austin is a great place to be. I haven't found a place with better balance of big city amenities and pay/cost of living ratio. You can live here as cheap(used to have $325 rent with one roommate) or as spendy as you prefer. Been living here for some time, lots of tech companies and a healthy community of people that do software. There are even startups - I'm starting with one in a couple of weeks.