RE: It's election time for COMMON again. He's baaaaaaaaaaack.

From: albartell

I actually think we now have a different problem in the US in that we
don't have enough qualified programmers.

This is an interesting viewpoint, Aaron, and is one promoted by pretty much
every sector looking to hire cheap labor. And I don't want to spend a ton
of time on the topic, but let's review it.

Look at the green card issue for tech
jobs that keeps popping up. I was at a recent advisory meeting for the
local college and it was interesting how everyone was finding it hard to
locate good talent in the local market and people were thinking of going
global simply because our population isn't providing enough of the right
people.

Now here is an interesting point. Is it that you couldn't find available
skills, or that you couldn't find people willing to work at the rate you
wanted to pay? I can understand not being able to find someone in your own
backyard; that's what relocation is about.

If it's simply a matter of getting the cheapest possible rates, then that's
when you're going to go offshore (and in many cases you're going to get
exactly what you pay for).

I felt the same pain as we had been looking for a solid RPG senior
developer
for about 9 months and finally have one willing to work remotely. We
thought briefly about going global but that just wouldn't be worth our
time
because of our size (smaller company). Believe me, it was a VERY BRIEF
thought :-)

What skill set were you looking for? I agree that it's not as easy to find
good System i talent as it used to be, simply because the rampant abuse of
the H-1B and L-1 visas have cratered the job market. Remember, during the
early 2000's, most companies wouldn't even think of having someone
telecommute. In fact, I find it amazing how many companies won't allow U.S.
citizens to telecommute, but think nothing of shipping a job overseas. Had
they embraced telecommuting (and many people would have happily worked for a
lower rate from home), we would probably still have a lot more people in the
job market. Instead, they attempted to get "senior RPG developers" for $35
an hour.

Ah well, on we go.

Joe