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by pinaceae 3428 days ago
Riddle me this:

We're hiring massively (SF East Bay), have a really hard time finding suitable, qualified candidates (from Java backend to native apps on iOS, Android, Windows). And even our junior devs make more than your new floor in base pay, not even counting RSUs.

If I would start filtering out H1B transfers (and other visa types), my hiring pipeline would be empty.

Where are the former Pennsylvanian coal miners pouring into tech? Where are the great US coders willing to move to the CA Bay Area? I don't see them. Indians, Chinese, Russians, Ukranians, yes. 3rd generation mid-westerners? crickets. ( I did move my family, from Europe to the US. )

The US education system does not generate enough coders. It's too bad before college, too expensive in college. Decent to great public school systems in those other countries take up that slack.

You restrict foreigners joining tech and the sector grinds to a halt. The US population on a macro level right now is simply too uneducated to run it.

2 comments

Can we agree that the US citizens who are capable of becoming programmers are making a rational economic decision to do something else?

If so, why hasnt tech competed successfully for them? I think open offices, poor autonomy, career issues as you cross 40, and so forth, have played a big role here. Even salaries arent remarkable compared to what skilled and intelligent people can earn in other fields. I think that if tech is having trouble hiring, they should learn to compete.

I see no reason to create a program that allows tech companies to force an immigrant to study CS and work a a dev as a condition of living and working in the US.

Why can't you hire remote employees? is it imperative that the employee be present?

Considering that SF is the most expensive place to live, why would anyone want to move there? especially if you have family?

> Considering that SF is the most expensive place to live, why would anyone want to move there?

SF is the most expensive place to live because people want to move there.

Are engineers preferring SF because the quality of life is higher?

Or is it that the perceived access to the next, more lucrative opportunity is greatest there?