[ThePawnBreak]

> As a tech lead / team lead over the last five years in a small East Coast market I've experienced real difficulty finding competent Software Engineers at any level.

Pay more. Google and Facebook use ridiculous interviews because so many people want to work there. They still hire thousands of people every year. Why? Mostly because they pay mid-level engineers over $200k. Can't afford that? Then we're not talking about "not finding people" anymore, just about not affording them.

[rplst8]

$200k in Silicon Valley != $200k in a small east coast market. Hell, it doesn't even compare to the DC Metro area.

From talking to friends and family that live out there, plus a few folks who used to live in the Bay Area, someone earning $120k here would have to earn at least $200k out there to get the same standard of living.

[ThePawnBreak]

> someone earning $120k here would have to earn at least $200k out there to get the same standard of living.

So are people flocking to the DC area to work as software engineers, then? If so, good job. If not, you know what you have to do.

> to get the same standard of living.

That highly, highly depends on what you spend your money on.

[southphillyman]

Doesn't this assume that the interviews even get to the offer stage? How does paying more remedy 80% of your applicants failing fizzbuzz on the phone interview? If you don't have the name recognition of the FAANG you're probably getting subpar applicants regardless.

[ThePawnBreak]

> Doesn't this assume that the interviews get to the salary negotiation stage? If you don't have the name recognition of the FAANG you're probably getting subpar applicants regardless.

People talk about salaries, they know who the top hitters are. Here in London there are many hedge funds you never heard of that have 20 engineers fighting for one spot, because they pay 100k GBP, whereas most startups complaining about lack of people pay 40k.

[a_c_s]

Paying more attracts more applicants.

[souprock]

It does not attract more applicants because they won't know about it unless you advertise a specific amount, which then creates other problems. You'd get a flood of useless people if the number is high. Some other people, underestimating themselves, would not apply. You remove the flexibility to hire both junior and senior people because one single pay number can't fit both. Even if you provide a range, you have the problem of pessimists and optimists assuming very different things about where in the range they might fall.

[neonate]

You could make the same argument about Rembrandts or anything else there's a shortage of. Finding and affording are the same thing in this context.

[d1zzy]

And regarding the original post, Google/Facebook pay $200k/year to H1Bs too.