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In my team(at a company in SF bay area), We have tried to hire an entry level engineer and also a senior level engineer who can tackle software development. We'

In my team(at a company in SF bay area), We have tried to hire an entry level engineer and also a senior level engineer who can tackle software development. We've not been able to fill any position with qualified candidates. Only reason is that the supply of jobs is abundant. Though there could be a huge number of american engineers, it simply doesn't match the demand at present. There is nothing terribly wrong in education system in the USA. The way you can solve this problem is by telling every freshman to major in Computer Science (However, many tech jobs don't require CS degree), which is not possible.

potatolicious 14y ago
> " The way you can solve this problem is by telling every freshman to major in Computer Science" I don't think that'd fix it - we're not really short on CS grads, we're short on CS grads that can write software. That's part of the xenophobia and hostility against H1B's - you have a lot of CS graduates who are just plain not very good programmers, who feel slighted that they're being passed over in favor of an international who's actually competent.
geebee 14y ago
Would you be willing to post the salary you are offering, along with some information about what you consider to be a qualified candidate? Absolutely fine if you want to keep it general, I'm just curious about what people mean when they say they can't find a qualified candidate. One big problem I have with the H1B visa is that it was created in response to an alleged "shortage". I'm very enthusiastic about creating a general skilled immigration under a points program (like Australia or Canada), but I'm far less enthusiastic about specific visa programs designed to remedy shortages in a particular and narrow segment of the economy. As you can probably tell, I'm one of those people who doesn't really believe that "shortages" of workers exist in a properly functioning market. I wouldn't rule it out completely, as we don't have a true free market and there are externalities to consider, but in general, I think most companies talking about shortages are really just having trouble hiring at the rate they want to pay. Double or triple that salary, and you'll get your engineers. If that's too expensive, then maybe the talent you seek has just found higher value things to work on. One extremely regrettable aspect of the H1B is that it restricts mobility. Yes, changing jobs in related fields is possible and common, but an H1B holder can't stay on that visa to go to med or law school, start a new company, or respond rationally to all kinds of market signals they way free people in a free economy would be able to... and the ugly truth is that this is part of the appeal of this visa to some companies - a captive engineering workforce with all the market distortions that brings.
- mycodebreaks 14y ago
  FYI, we could not hire anyone. Finally, we lost those open reqs because management decided so. Most smart engineer we interviewed, ended up having multiple offers from more cool companies. it would have been 85k-95k for an entry level. In short, it was up to the standards in bay area for skills and experience.
  - geebee 14y ago
    What kind of salary were you offering for the more senior position? Do you think you would have been more successful hiring a Jr dev at a much higher salary? Say, 120K? That would still low for a graduate of a top law school. I know this will cause sticker shock, but that may be what it takes.
    - mycodebreaks 14y ago
      Honestly, I do not have salary data. However, for sure, the salaries were in average or above range. You should check some salary stats. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3141716 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3141716
      - geebee 14y ago
        It seems to me that there is a disconnect here. You mentioned that you were losing out on "smart engineers" with "multiple offers from cool companies". Then you discuss how your company is offering salaries in the "average or above range." It sounds to me like your company is experiencing exactly the outcome you'd expect.
        mycodebreaks 14y ago
        There is no disconnect. I am just saying that how much harder it is to hire when your company is not Google, Facebook, Dropbox etc..
        14y ago

potatolicious 14y ago

> " The way you can solve this problem is by telling every freshman to major in Computer Science" I don't think that'd fix it - we're not really short on CS grads, we're short on CS grads that can write software. That's part of the xenophobia and hostility against H1B's - you have a lot of CS graduates who are just plain not very good programmers, who feel slighted that they're being passed over in favor of an international who's actually competent.

geebee 14y ago

Would you be willing to post the salary you are offering, along with some information about what you consider to be a qualified candidate? Absolutely fine if you want to keep it general, I'm just curious about what people mean when they say they can't find a qualified candidate. One big problem I have with the H1B visa is that it was created in response to an alleged "shortage". I'm very enthusiastic about creating a general skilled immigration under a points program (like Australia or Canada), but I'm far less enthusiastic about specific visa programs designed to remedy shortages in a particular and narrow segment of the economy. As you can probably tell, I'm one of those people who doesn't really believe that "shortages" of workers exist in a properly functioning market. I wouldn't rule it out completely, as we don't have a true free market and there are externalities to consider, but in general, I think most companies talking about shortages are really just having trouble hiring at the rate they want to pay. Double or triple that salary, and you'll get your engineers. If that's too expensive, then maybe the talent you seek has just found higher value things to work on. One extremely regrettable aspect of the H1B is that it restricts mobility. Yes, changing jobs in related fields is possible and common, but an H1B holder can't stay on that visa to go to med or law school, start a new company, or respond rationally to all kinds of market signals they way free people in a free economy would be able to... and the ugly truth is that this is part of the appeal of this visa to some companies - a captive engineering workforce with all the market distortions that brings.

mycodebreaks 14y ago
FYI, we could not hire anyone. Finally, we lost those open reqs because management decided so. Most smart engineer we interviewed, ended up having multiple offers from more cool companies. it would have been 85k-95k for an entry level. In short, it was up to the standards in bay area for skills and experience.
- geebee 14y ago
  What kind of salary were you offering for the more senior position? Do you think you would have been more successful hiring a Jr dev at a much higher salary? Say, 120K? That would still low for a graduate of a top law school. I know this will cause sticker shock, but that may be what it takes.
  - mycodebreaks 14y ago
    Honestly, I do not have salary data. However, for sure, the salaries were in average or above range. You should check some salary stats. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3141716 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3141716
    - geebee 14y ago
      It seems to me that there is a disconnect here. You mentioned that you were losing out on "smart engineers" with "multiple offers from cool companies". Then you discuss how your company is offering salaries in the "average or above range." It sounds to me like your company is experiencing exactly the outcome you'd expect.
      - mycodebreaks 14y ago
        There is no disconnect. I am just saying that how much harder it is to hire when your company is not Google, Facebook, Dropbox etc..
        14y ago