[junke]

> Using a not very popular programming language can actually make it harder for you to hire people.

This is a very popular opinion, but I never see anyone taking the time to bring actual arguments. Do you have any experience hiring people or are you just spreading this seemingly self-evident claim?

If a language is popular, wouldn't more companies want to hire for it, which would make recruiting harder? See http://blog.activelylazy.co.uk/2013/05/27/choosing-a-program.... Also, being popular means that it is being known by a wider audience of people: isn't it harder to filter through all the applicants who say they can write in the popular language?

[mordocai]

As someone currently hiring for a mid level popularity language (ruby) I find that we don't have as many applicants as we'd like and that many people who apply have ruby on their resume but have never done an actual project in it.

We also do javascript and, despite its popularity, we also get quite a few applicants who have it on their resume and have never used the language for anything useful.

Personally, my opinion is just hiring is hard. It is a very valid point though that if you are not willing to hire remote (which my company is not) you are very limited when trying to hire for less popular languages. Alternatively just train people, but that can be expensive.

[rlander]

"The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is to not train them and keep them." Zig Ziglar