Once a Dynamo, the Tech Sector Is Slow to Hire

New York Times ^ | 09/06/2010 | Catherine Rampell

[mdmathis6]

That’s what I was getting at and any technological knowledge they have that can kick there former employers in the butt...so be it. Now I’m not talking about out and out intellectual theft, just everything else short of it.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Right, because intellectual theft work both ways, if you can steal your former employer’s IP then they can steal yours’.

[algernonpj]

You and I are also competing with the scads of Indians brought to these shores by MS with the intention of destroying the earning power of native-born engineers.

Absolutely! Both as 'guest workers' who either work on-shore or facilitate off-shoring, and as illegals (in the form of visa overstays).

Per Greenspan "Our skilled wages are higher than anywhere in the world," he said. "If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income.".

Shh...it's really about cheap labor, but don't tell anyone.

Just part of the ongoing war on the US middle class - in this instance on techies.

[Non-Sequitur]

Its tentativeness has prompted economists to ask “If high tech isn’t hiring, who will?”

They are hiring...in Mumbai.

[algernonpj]

There’s lots of legacy OpenVMS work that needs to be done, I’d actually say OpenVMS guys have an advantage over the Windows/Linux clones out there in the field.

There are guest workers and off shoring for that.

Currently only 125,000 new legal workers (a combination of guest workers and green cards) enter the US each MONTH.

[algernonpj]

... And at my age, I am competing with much younger guys for even the jobs doing what I was doing 10 years ago. The wages are seriously down as well.

You might be interested in reading:
"As a result, in the last 20 years, a rampant age problem has arisen in this profession. "Old" in this field now means 35, not 55."

[bamahead]

ping

[SeekAndFind]

I note with interest and concern the following paragraph :

“Though there are certainly counterexamples, programmers typically find that their employability decreases markedly 10-15 years after they finish school. Again, the problem is that they have become too expensive.”

Again the words -— TOO EXPENSIVE. And note that this is not limited to programmers or any other technology workers in the US. This “too expensive” brand is now prevalent ACROSS ALL PROFESSIONS.

Globalization cuts both ways... it lowers the prices of goods and services, but then it takes away our jobs.

[ShadowAce]

[bamahead]

In case you missed it, our tax dollars are now being used to DIRECTLY train IT workers in South Asia, so that they can undercut American labor costs and put more of us middle-classers out of work (and on the dole where the ruling class wants us):

U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers

Despite President Obama's pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has launched a $36 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia.

Following their training, the tech workers will be placed with outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT and business services to American companies looking to take advantage of the Asian subcontinent's low labor costs.

Under director Rajiv Shah, the United States Agency for International Development will partner with private outsourcers in Sri Lanka to teach workers there advanced IT skills like Enterprise Java (Java EE) programming, as well as skills in business process outsourcing and call center support. USAID will also help the trainees brush up on their English language proficiency.

USAID is contributing about $10 million to the effort, while its private partners are investing roughly $26 million.

[raybbr]

Even if you hitch your career on a competitive company like Microsoft or Oracle, you have to continue upgrading your knowledge of their product or your old knowledge will be obsolete before you know it. Who wants someone who knows Oracle 9.0 for instance, when people now want Oracle 11.0 ?

And, then...

I really would not call those doing OpenVMS programming lazy or stupid. I know of many companies thathave HUGE legacy systems that need to be maintained (OpenVMS and Tandem being a few of them).

So, which is it???????????

[raybbr]

Currently only 125,000 new legal workers (a combination of guest workers and green cards) enter the US each MONTH.

ONLY!? That's 1.5 million a year.

[algernonpj]

I note with interest and concern the following paragraph : “Though there are certainly counterexamples, programmers typically find that their employability decreases markedly 10-15 years after they finish school. Again, the problem is that they have become too expensive.”

Again the words -— TOO EXPENSIVE. And note that this is not limited to programmers or any other technology workers in the US. This “too expensive” brand is now prevalent ACROSS ALL PROFESSIONS.

Globalization cuts both ways... it lowers the prices of goods and services, but then it takes away our jobs.

When you were told globalism (transnational corporatism) would have winners and losers, you were not told that the American middle class would feature heavily among the losers.

Odd thing about those cheap goods and services. Before my rates lowered by 1/3, those goods and services I NEED were much easier easier to afford.

[algernonpj]

"Currently only 125,000 new legal workers (a combination of guest workers and green cards) enter the US each MONTH."

ONLY!? That's 1.5 million a year.

I wrote 'only' because the number was higher before the economy and job market went south. E.g., in the year 2001 9 of 10 new jobs in IT went to H-1B's.

[nickcarraway]

Not in Silicon Valley. Most Software Engineers seem to be getting mulitple offers.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: So, which is it???????????

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Both really. The point is -— You become a less desirable hire if you are only good with technologies that have seen their best days behind them ( even as a company that is still competitive today has newer technologies that have made their older ones obsolete ).

For instance, as a very valuable Microsoft developer in the early 2000’s, you might have been good at developing in Visual Studio 6.0 ( their flagship development system ). But today, all of their development is in .NET and their flagship system is Visual Studio 2010.

You’re not going to be hired if your resume states Visual Studio 6.0 and you don’t know Microsoft’s .NET framework.

That will change a few years from now I’m sure.

That’s why I said a techie is doomed to a life of perpetual study. You can never graduate from “college” (for want of a better word).

Some people LOVE this kind of life. Others (especially those who have a life beyond the office) would dread having to do this for the rest of their working life.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Not in Silicon Valley. Most Software Engineers seem to be getting mulitple offers.

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Well, it looks like California isn’t the basket case people seem to be making it out to be after all.

Even with her sky high, above national average unemployment ( above 12% the last time I looked at it ), there seems to be a subsector that’s still hiring...

Are you saying that the tech sector is slow to hire in other areas of the country with Silicon Valley as the sole exception ?

[algernonpj]

Found the source for the 9 0f 10 figure:

http://www.jobdestruction.com/NewsArchive/2002-06-28%209%20Out%20of%20Every%2010%20ComputerIT%20Jobs%20Went%20to%20H-1Bs.htm

Unfortunately, as SeekAndFind noted, what was (and is) being done to techies has extended to many other fields. Here in NJ, illegals are financially breaking hospitals. To cut costs hospitals have fired american nurses over the last several years, and replaced them by cheaper guest worker nurses while chanting the ‘jobs Americans cna’t/won’t do’ mantra.

[doodad]

What I meant was I can’t even get a call back on a desktop job much less management, which is where I was at in my last job.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Most Software Engineers seem to be getting mulitple offers.

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And are they permanent residents or citizens ? Or are they mostly here on working H1B visas?