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.
There are pleanty of Tech Workers... just companies know they can pay an H1B 30% or more less than an american, so they refuse to pay, and lobby congress for more visa’s.
Its an absolutely scam.
Market has picked up in the last year or so, after being very slow.
The other part is companies don’t want to hire, they want to bring someone in for 6 or 18 months, and if you are married raising a family you aren’t as likely to hop around the country every few months.
I would never recommend a kid get into tech today, the entire industry has been destroyed in terms of a career, unless you want to spend your entire life on the road. Go into finance or medical instead.
In 2003 congress reduced the H1B quota from an all time high of 194,000/year back down to the original of 65,000/year. Like you, my salary shot up in early 2004 and has been great ever since. Congress is now wanting to blow the lid of the H1B quota. I expect things to go back to pre year 2003.
At 194,000/year and with a 6 year servitude contract attached to each H1B visa, there can be at any one time (194,000 x 6) 1.2 million foreign tech workers in the USA. And none of them are allowed to switch jobs for a higher paying job even if offered that job unless the want to lose their H1B visa and possibly be fined by their host company. Not exactly the free market.
I don't mind competing against foreign tech workers or developers but allow them the same freedom to accept higher paying jobs if offered. Do this, and watch all these US companies all of a sudden NOT need these workers.