IT Job Market Recovering Faster Now Than After Dot-com Bubble Burst 242
tsamsoniw writes "More new tech jobs have emerged since the end of the past recession than during the same recovery timelines following the dot-com bubble burst and the early-1990s recession. What's more, the unemployment rate among technology professionals is now half that of the national average — with especially low unemployment rates for database administrators and network architects. What's not clear, though, is how many unemployed techies aren't being counted because they've abandoned job searches."
Re:Is the job market real? (Score:5, Informative)
I have been a victim so to speak. You see, I got a job but the employer wanted me to get "up-to-date" certification at my cost, at my time and then commit to working 5 days a week and being on-call at least one weekend every 6 weeks for the first year, then on-call for one of the weekends in two months.
That actually seems pretty reasonable to me; the only point I'd negotiate on would be the certifications at my cost relative to my starting wage and/or signing bonus.
Surely the 5 days a week, and being on call one weekend in 6 wasn't the deal breaker? Doctors deal with the same reality... people don't get sick only from 9 to 5, and computers are no more accomodating. Things break on weekends.
Re:Fake jobs (Score:4, Informative)
'Tis purposeful. Apparently, a number of companies have found a way to play fast and loose with H1Bs. See, in order to make things legal, they need to post the job publicly, so that the natives have a chance before the foreigners get to apply. Since the companies in question are already using the possibility of a green card as leverage over the foreigner (to decrease their potential salaries / wages), the hiring of the foreigner is much preferred in the company's eyes.
But how do you dissuade, or otherwise disqualify, the natives from applying / getting the job? According to the rules, the salary has to meet certain criteria (somewhere within the average of the industry), so purely low-balling the natives won't work. Instead, these companies realized that they can use the qualifications / criteria for the job itself to get around the requirements: they hand the foreign applicant a disc with proprietary apps (costing, potentially, tends of thousands of dollars to buy, possibly even demo), and tell them to familiarize themselves with the apps. Then when the time comes to apply for the job, they can truthfully say that they have used these special apps before, and thus are more qualified for the job than the native. In other words, it would cost the native tends of thousands of dollars to buy these special apps, ostensibly provided for free to foreigners, in order to gain experience with them, in order to qualify for this job; obviously, a native will not do this, as the job itself is probably not well-paying enough to cover these capital costs.
Let it be known that I have no problems with foreigners competing for native jobs. I do, however, have a problem with uneven playing fields; fighting dirty befouls the entire industry, and lays the foundation for terrible gains. Had I my way, the H1B caps would be abolished, and their wages no different from that of the natives.