[derrekl]

While I'd agree with you as an entry level candidate, with experienced people, I've found the language is often the most important thing on the list. Often above salary. I would say it is more commonly number one than any other factor. I only know of a few programmers who have shifted through more than 2 languages in their careers (20+ year type careers). I don't have brilliant insight as to why. Perhaps the fear of starting at ground zero? Imposter syndrome? Feeling of throwing your past experience down the drain?

[nitrogen]

Interesting. I've used at least half a dozen languages in my career of ~15 years. Apart from a few categories of language I avoid, I'm much more interested in the working domain, team dynamics, and quality of life.

It has often been to my advantage to be willing to learn a new language for a new project or a new job, giving me opportunities I wouldn't otherwise have had. I learned Oracle PL/SQL to integrate a 7-8 figure Rails app into an accounting system when nobody else volunteered. I learned Rails to get into ecommerce. I learned PHP to become a startup's only web developer so I could write cool audio processing tech in Ruby. I learned Ruby to speed web development in my own startup. I learned Scala to get into the San Francisco market. JS. Java. Kotlin. POSIX shell. C++. C. Etc.

Unless a developer/engineer just wants to be a cog forever, I highly recommend some flexibility on language. Solving real problems is way more interesting and more useful than being a framework stickler.