The Tech Worker Shortage Doesn't Really Exist

[GearChoices]

All of the circular logic and made-up BS doesn't change the hard facts/statistics and the real-life situations I have seen in-person and read about elsewhere. There is no shortage. Period. Anyone that claims they are having a hard time finding a qualified candidate for ANY tech position is one or more of the following:
1. Lying in order to perpetuate the myth for political and economic objectives that will increase their personal profit at the expense of their current and future workers.
2. Has completely incompetent hiring managers, whether internal or third-party.
3. Not willing to offer quality-of-life (many factors) equivalent to the same level of education/certification/skill/experience/work-requirements in other professional occupations.
4. Redefining the definition of qualified with some absurd biased/prejudiced "requirements" that has nothing to do with the person's ability to perform ANY of the job's functions.
5. Looking for a particularly virtuous (in terms of professional ethics/integrity) candidate, in which case there may be a shortage in EVERY field.

It is always one or more of the above in every case. Stop with the BS people.

 

[viscountalpha]

It's a vicious cycle and the system (our government, our economy) is beginning to eat itself.

it was fun while it lasted.

 

[Red Squirrel]

First time I hear of a tech worker shortage, it's more like the other way around, tech job shortage. It seems most tech jobs get outsourced or relocated down south these days so unless you live in those key areas there really arn't much tech jobs. Of course lot of stuff can be automated that was not automated before, and let's face it from a company standpoint if you can automate something it just makes sense to do. Outsourcing not so much, because it greatly reduces quality, but companies do it anyway.

Been looking around my city just for fun to see what's out there and there's absolutely nothing other than small PC/phone repair places that probably pay minimum wage. Most of the jobs are at places like Walmart and even those places are into doing mass layoffs these days. The job market is getting worse and worse due to companies always wanting to make more and more profit and never being happy with what they're already doing.

 

[chaikovski2002]

On that note, the thing that particularly irks me about the current sector is the complete blackout on pay/benefits when applying. There is nothing more irritating then spending days/weeks or even months going through an extensive interview process and essentially kissing ass the entire time only to get an utterly insulting offer that had I known that is all they were willing to pay I NEVER would of applied in the first place much less wasted countless hours/fuel on. It just gets under my skin when I waste so much of my time on a job that I never would of even considered taking for a second. A good example is recently I went through a 4 week interview process for a position I was interested in. This was for a "Wears many hats" type of IT position mostly with Cisco routers/switches but also being expected to essentially be most of the IT department, on call etc. Now I don't mind being the "one stop shop", but what I mind is being the one stop shop for the same amount of money I can make working a call center sitting on my ass doing damn near nothing.

Theres always a shortage at rock bottom salary! We all have been through a long interview proccess in which at the end they offer to pay you something you would never accept! Its very much rage inducing and something like are you kidding me? You want to pay me what now? Who wants to start at the rock bottom again? I didnt think so!

 

[flashoverride]

We also have 3 help desk positions open, and nearly every one who has applied has never worked on a computer before. The ones who have are terrible at it, or in some cases they are ridiculously over qualified and shouldn't be going after an entry level position. Those people will never be happy in the position so it's not fair of us to put them there. And I would be more than happy to train someone. I would even prefer it as I can teach them the right way to do things instead of the half assed way many people do things. But they have to have some level of skill first. I can't spend a year training one guy who has no experience, that's just not realistic.

So..... let me get this straight. You won't hire anyone without experience, even though you would be more than happy training folks, but... you also won't hire people who "are ridiculously overqualified" because they shouldn't be going after an entry level position and it's not "fair" or you to put them there.

WHAT. Just WHAT. Where the hell is your business, rural Idaho? You say you contract out your software to a local firm. Did you try recruiting their employees? Did you try asking them how they recruit? They probably won't tell you, but it never hurts to ask. Where have you advertised? Have you gone to any local veterans job fairs? There's a large pool of people who have IT skills and are used to dealing with incompetent, wishy-washy management, working long hours for crap pay, and generally putting up with being trained how to "do things the correct way, not the half-assed way many people do things". Have you gone to the state unemployment database? Sure lots to slog through, but lots of IT folk get stuck in contracting gigs and get the rug pulled out through no fault of their own.

 

[belfert]

Now, as far as a shortage, I don't know how it is in the rest of the country, but in my area there is a massive shortage of qualified IT staff. My company has had 4 IT positions open for between 6 months and 2 years, and we just can't fill them, at any price. I've interviewed hundreds of people over the years, and 99% of them are so unqualified that I wouldn't hire them to take out the trash, much less do anything IT related. There seems to be a glut of people who have zero IT experience applying for IT jobs because they are sick of whatever they are doing and want a change.

I think unqualified people apply for IT positions because of the wages paid in IT. If someone is barely getting by at $15 an hour they would love to get paid $25 to $0 an hour or more.