I have been interviewing. Everyone is confused right now. Hiring companies are confused. Recruits are confused.
My opinion is we are at a severe dislocation period.
I have noticed massive changes in the emerging skills, tools and platforms. Pretty much no code, low code and AI.
Everything else looks useless or outdated.
Meanwhile, tons of startups and big tech companies are dying and laying off.
The skills those people have are dramatically out of whack with what the market actually wants.
They are also dramatically out of whack compensation wise from what the current market will tolerate.
It means we have a flood of garbage and ultra talented people who can’t plug in anywhere.
The ultra talented person will laugh at the offers that employers are willing to make right now and turn them down.
Employers are not staffing senior or skilled hires and want to low ball the ultra talented people who want nothing to do with these corny offers and companies.
So basically employers think they will get someone “good” and underpay them and people who are actually good are not yet willing to capitulate.
And salaries are dropping by like 20-30%.
And anyone in the market who has seen their bills going up due to inflation will not tolerate a salary drop on top of a downlevel / demotion.
People who have debt and a family think the idea of a salary cut is crazy.
So with all the dead and dying startups, tons of people flooding the market, interview process going to hell, people getting upset about the salary and skills disconnects, rapid change in which projects are getting funded and which skills are in demand.
If you are unemployed right now you are likely to be in pain for six months and you will likely need a salary or career reset and you will likely need to reskill and possibly relocate.
What you’re missing is that you don’t need someone “good” to do your bog standard enterprise framework dev. You just need someone “good enough”.
And since many if not most people in the higher income tax brackets own their homes with fix rate mortgages and they aren’t spending every penny they make, they aren’t really seeing the full affects of inflation.
I think that's an excellent analysis. There's another issue I'm not seeing anyone talk about:
I'm currently unemployed. But given my life circumstances, I need to make about $170k/year to avoid long-term money problems.
I've seen a few jobs in the $140k-$150k range that I'm pretty sure are mine for the asking. But I know that once the market improves, I'd need to move on to other companies for better pay.
I'm avoiding applying for those jobs because it feels slimy: I'd have to deceive the employer about my intentions to stay.
Have you found a method to exchange your pride for goods and services or have you overcome the widespread addiction to food and shelter that most people seem to still have?
> The ultra talented person will laugh at the offers that employers are willing to make right now and turn them down.
I'm unmotivated to look for this reason. As an IC6 SRE, I won't get out of bed for less than $250k TC. I have a TC negotiator and an IP employment lawyer to pay before accepting any offer.
If were temporarily unable to find employment, monetizing SaaS product(s) would be my backup plan because there's plenty of potential upside by choosing the category and market fit with solid pricing.
My opinion is we are at a severe dislocation period.
I have noticed massive changes in the emerging skills, tools and platforms. Pretty much no code, low code and AI.
Everything else looks useless or outdated.
Meanwhile, tons of startups and big tech companies are dying and laying off.
The skills those people have are dramatically out of whack with what the market actually wants.
They are also dramatically out of whack compensation wise from what the current market will tolerate.
It means we have a flood of garbage and ultra talented people who can’t plug in anywhere.
The ultra talented person will laugh at the offers that employers are willing to make right now and turn them down.
Employers are not staffing senior or skilled hires and want to low ball the ultra talented people who want nothing to do with these corny offers and companies.
So basically employers think they will get someone “good” and underpay them and people who are actually good are not yet willing to capitulate.
And salaries are dropping by like 20-30%.
And anyone in the market who has seen their bills going up due to inflation will not tolerate a salary drop on top of a downlevel / demotion.
People who have debt and a family think the idea of a salary cut is crazy.
So with all the dead and dying startups, tons of people flooding the market, interview process going to hell, people getting upset about the salary and skills disconnects, rapid change in which projects are getting funded and which skills are in demand.
If you are unemployed right now you are likely to be in pain for six months and you will likely need a salary or career reset and you will likely need to reskill and possibly relocate.
That’s where we are.