The market’s fine here in NY. I have a great gig with a small, Wall Street firm, and I get love letters from headhunters on a daily basis. The market was very bad between late 2002 and late 2003, but picked up nicely in early ‘04.
What is this guy crying about. I am a 44-year old IT person. I quit my full-time job to do contracting as as a single person S-CORP. It pays THREE TIMES AS MUCH!!!! I get to pick my assignments and don’t have to tolerate a bad boss.
This debate is already settled: this has everything to do with low, slave like wages that you can get from foreingers. There are qualified people in the US, but many are turning away from IT because the zeitgeist in the field is to send American jobs hand over fist to places like India.
There, fixed it.
If you look at the mainframe IT industry, getting rid of most of them would help. They still refuse to use technology. They use software from the 60’s and 70’s and use every scare tactics in the book to keep their companies there and not getting any 21st century technology.
They don’t want to do the work and then blame their fellow employees by saying they are too stupid to learn.
One of the threads with the infamous “Our goal is clearly not to find a qualified U.S. worker...” video:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1855161/posts
The debate has been over for some time now.
I can assure you that it is the latter.
But we're supposed to believe that those "specialized skills" are available in some third-world dust farm? That excuse is so transparent a blind man can see through it with his cane.
The IT market is a little tight here. But, we just spent 4 months trying to find an entry level worker that was marginally competent. Fortunately, we finally found a guy, but the parade of people that came through for interviews was pretty pathetic.
I’ve been a UNIX Admin. full time for about 8 years, w/no experience coming in and no college. I make a decent salary (65k) here in plano texas...I have noticed a boat load of H1B’s here in our company working application support, but nothing else...
Surely it is those damn unions and legacy costs or can we finally admit business is greedy.
Take a walk around Qualcomm's grounds some day and check out the engineers: a disproportionate amount of non-Americans. They have gone for the cheap imported engineering talent for years. Why pay an American engineer $100k/yr when you can get a green card Indian engineer for $60k?
read later
Beware of these Indian technical recruiters (some use American sounding names to disguise their nationality), especially when they prompt you with a salary or rate you should request. They collect Americans to submit as applicants along with their H1B clients. They tell you they are trying to find you a job when actually they are only pushing their H1B clients at a lower rate and using you to make their H1B clients look more attractive. We call them the Indian Mafia.
Some advice from one techie to another:
1.) H1B visa scam - Already covered in the posts above. Mostly impacts software developers. Note: There is no glory in this line of work and coding as we know it may soon be eliminated by systems that write code based on business rules entered into a software application.
Input > Business Rules and Requirements: Output > Your company’s new HRIS or ERP application
Insulate yourself from offshoring by doing work that is difficult to offshore. Globalization is real and is here to stay. Get over it.
2.) Geeks not required - Technology is becoming a commodity that is more complex and capable yet easy to configure and use. Face it, these days a 3rd grader can configure a simple wireless network to share mp3’s with his classmates. Just about all new software is wizard driven and coded to the lowest common denominator. It simply doesn’t take the pocket protector sporting genius to unleash new technology and if he is needed it is only for short term contract engagements to configure IPSec policies or to setup a new SAN. If you are going to stay technical you better be the best of the best in your field and know something about enterprise architecture, business continuity and disaster recovery, otherwise you are nothing more than an overpaid janitor to your company.
3.) Soft skills - College graduates and many legacy techie types simply cannot communicate. Whether it be written or spoken their inability to convey information is an enormous barrier to their success. Furthermore many of these folks do not follow-up or follow-through and are poorly organized. To be successful you must balance your portfolio of technical skills with soft skills. And tuck in your shirt!
4.) There is no glory in operations. - Repeat, there is no glory in operations. You are expected to keep the bits flowing through the network. Employing technology in a way that it delivers new services and capabilities to the business is where IT shows its value. 100% system uptime is expected. Techies who can manage projects and the people who keep the bits flowing are and will continue to be in high demand. Get into a consulting mindset and put a PMP and or MBA next to your MCSE or CCNA certificate.
5.) Keep learning and stay current - This goes without saying but I never cease to be amazed by techies who refuse to learn a new or different technology. For example, I work with several IBM Groupware/Notes administrators who would rather drink a gallon of anti-freeze than to learn Microsoft Exchange on the company’s dime. Like my Air Force sergeants used to tell me, “Training is the same as money.” Would you turn down a $2000.00 bonus if your company offered you one? Didn’t think so...
6.) Get a life - This may strike fear into the hearts of many techies but it’s okay to unplug. There are vast expanses where trees, streams and wildlife exist and, GASP!, no cellular, WiFi or WiMax signals can be found! Don’t ever forget that the most complex and beautiful system ever created has no transistors...
Mike
Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage
Testimony to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration ^ | April 21, 1998 | Dr. Norman Matloff
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/705954/posts
Posted on 06/25/2002 6:14:36 PM PDT by FormerLurker
Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage
Testimony to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee on Immigration
Dr. Norman Matloff
Department of Computer Science
University of California at Davis
Davis, CA 95616
(530) 752-1953
matloff@cs.ucdavis.edu
©1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
Presented April 21, 1998; updated February 4, 2002