I can say for sure that there are very large numbers of unemployed programmers because my day job is as a recruiter - I spend all day receiving resumes from programmers and talking to them about whether or not they are currently employed. Even in my own city there are large numbers of programmers looking for work. Expand that around the world and there's many many more.
Actually the reason I have been thinking about this idea is because I'm acutely aware and reminded daily of how much programming talent is not active due to unemployment.
Many people struggle to get work even though they might be willing and highly talented, for a wide variety of reasons. Consider for example if you are Delphi programmer who wants to make the shift into programming with some more recent technology. It is very hard for such people to get a job because employers are reluctant to take the chance. The Delphi programmer may in fact be incredibly talented and may easily be able to switch technologies, but getting an employer to give them that chance might take 12 months. There are lots of other valid reasons why there are many potentially talented programmers who can't find a job.
Well, unemployed is a flexible term. How about freelancers?
I'm freelancing and (apart from my startup efforts) technically unemployed for about 1/3 of the year.
I can say for sure that there are very large numbers of unemployed programmers because my day job is as a recruiter - I spend all day receiving resumes from programmers and talking to them about whether or not they are currently employed. Even in my own city there are large numbers of programmers looking for work. Expand that around the world and there's many many more.
Actually the reason I have been thinking about this idea is because I'm acutely aware and reminded daily of how much programming talent is not active due to unemployment.
Many people struggle to get work even though they might be willing and highly talented, for a wide variety of reasons. Consider for example if you are Delphi programmer who wants to make the shift into programming with some more recent technology. It is very hard for such people to get a job because employers are reluctant to take the chance. The Delphi programmer may in fact be incredibly talented and may easily be able to switch technologies, but getting an employer to give them that chance might take 12 months. There are lots of other valid reasons why there are many potentially talented programmers who can't find a job.