[Avicebron]

> there's also a very tight labor market. it's hard to square "we need to bring more jobs back" with "it is so hard to find workers right now"

This is insanity. When was the last time your looked for a job? People literally send hundreds of applications to companies and don't hear a peep or are automatically rejected.

[jchw]

Maybe those two issues are connected, though. For some jobs, it seems like people cheating job applications and interviews with LLMs are making it hard for companies to actually fill jobs even when there are tons of applicants. In other cases, it may just be that the wages the employers are willing to pay doesn't overlap with the wages the prospective employees are willing to work for. I suspect it's partially both.

Right now, the unemployment rate seems to be relatively low, despite people reporting widespread difficulty applying to jobs. Not 100% sure what this suggests. I think we can reasonably conclude the application process for software developers in particular is hopelessly broken. (Or at least, moreso than it was before.)

[bobthepanda]

Tech also swung particularly super hard from "everybody is hiring" to "nobody is hiring", but tech workers aren't that big a share of the general economy, and also let's be honest, would the tech workers here accept menial factory work?

[bobthepanda]

My understanding is that it's a tech thing and not the general economy. The unemployment rate is still lower than at any time during the pre-2007 boom.