CS Job in Demand!?!

[Tyler]

Billy G from good 'ole M$ is saying that computer science graduates are in demand despite outsourcing.

Full story here

I was a CS grad this past spring, but already had a job lined up, so I was kind of a special case.  

I was just wondering how other CS grads have faired in the job market?

[Bryan]

I got a job and I haven't even graduated yet  :-P


Makes me want to graduate sooner though  :-(

[Peter Motyka]

I've yet to have a problem finding a job, with the exception of my short stint looking for work in Portland, Oregon.  I blame that trouble on not being a resident, an IT unemployment rate of 15% in Portland metro at the time, and articles stating that Californians were flocking in mass to the Pacific Northwest.  So, I guess it depends on where you are conducting your search.  If you're trying to relocate to a popular metropolitan area, you'll likely see some stiff competition. I was surprised though, despite the influx of people moving to Denver, I had several job offers in a month and was able to be picky :)

Much like tfizzle and ModernDayDarwin, I was employed in the IT field long before graduating.  Although my grades probably suffered a bit from overextending myself, I think the experience was invaluable.

On to a different sort of topic...  How many CS grads see their BS/BA degree as being sufficient to remain competitive in IT?  Personally I'm on the fast track to getting my MS and looking forward to what doors that may open.

[Peter Motyka]

I came across this article from a TechRepublic discussion thread.  Quite interesting...

Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage
http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/itaa.real.html

My favorite quote from the essay: "As one analyst, Jay Whitehead humorously told ZD-TV Radio, if your skill shows up as a book in the Dummies series, that skill is no longer marketable."

[Bryan]

pmotyko wrote:
My favorite quote from the essay: "As one analyst, Jay Whitehead humorously told ZD-TV Radio, if your skill shows up as a book in the Dummies series, that skill is no longer marketable."

BUT! what if you are the one that writes the book?

[Jerry]

Well, someone in the US must need tech workers:  
 
Legislation would nearly double H-1B visa limit:
 It would allow up to 60,000 additional H-1B workers this fiscal year

[Bryan]

Jerry wrote:
Well, someone in the US must need tech workers:  
 
Legislation would nearly double H-1B visa limit:
 It would allow up to 60,000 additional H-1B workers this fiscal year

But are they doing that so they can bring in and underpay people from abroad or is there actually a shortage?

[Peter Motyka]

ModernDayDarwin wrote:
But are they doing that so they can bring in and underpay people from abroad or is there actually a shortage?

I believe it is to score low wage workers for the largest companies in the U.S to continue exploiting.  According to this section (http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/itaa.real.html#tth_sEc2.3.4), the lobbyists that drive politicians to pass such legislation are representing special interest groups that have agendas other than resolving a "shortage".

Regarding the shortage, this is an interesting passage:

It is important to note that though the industry has claimed that the H-1B visa program is just a "temporary" solution to the claimed labor shortage until the educational system can produce more programmers, that claimed/perceived "shortage" will be permanent. The reason for this is that, since software technology will continue to change extremely rapidly, and since employers are not willing to hire a veteran programmer who learns a new software skill via coursework, it will always be the case that most programmers do not possess the latest software skills, and thus there always will be a "shortage."

Despite the essay I'm referencing being several years old, the ideas in here still hold true.  How long are we going to face this "shortage"?  Seem to me that large corporations have no interest in seeing it resolved as they win big with the cheap labor of an expanded H1-B program.

Should we really believe that the plight of the American worker affects the way politicians and corporations behave?  This trend will follow the same course American manufacturing has.  The laws of competitive advantage will drive the "computer programmer" down to a labor/commodity status.  The result of such degradation will likely be drastically reduced wages, and intense competition for the few quality jobs that remain.

Quite frankly, this continued trend scares me.  In a capitalist environment, the most profitable company always wins.  When push comes to shove, a company is going to choose the more affordable worker and leave veteran IT workers scouring for positions that will pay enough to maintain the standard of living they’ve become accustomed to.  

I'm hoping in my pursuit of management I'll help change this attitude in whatever organization I land in.  It seems all too often companies forget the domain skills an employee gains during a long tenure.  Surely it can't be cost effective to retrain workers in the intricate business rules of the finance world.  I’m convinced that the managers that make staffing decisions based purely on wage costs are the same ones that can’t seem to see past quarterly profit goals.  Doesn’t anyone plan for the long term anymore?

[Peter Motyka]

Just when you thought the horse stop breathing...

"A new study shows that companies hire foreign workers for cheap labor, not skill." From the article:"When you look at computer job titles by state, California has one of the biggest differentials between OES salaries and H-1B salaries. The average salary for a programmer in California is $73,960, according to the OES. The average salary paid to an H-1B visa worker for the same job is $53,387; a difference of $20,573 ... "

http://politics.slashdot.org/politics/05/10/25/1830206.shtml?tid=156&tid=98&tid=219