I have a $100k job posted that I got 10 resumes for. I had to keep it open for 3 months to get 10 resumes. Another $75k job was posted by my org, got 3 resumes. I’ve been hiring people for 15+ years and I normally get 20-50 applicants for jobs at various levels (very specialized field). Something is wrong.
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On the flip side my brother graduated from his university about a year ago and has been applying to various entry level software dev jobs since then with no luck. He had a 3.8 gpa and a summer internship his last year. I’m not in the same field but I’ve looked over his resume and it seems fine, so not sure what the disconnect is with all these stories I hear like yours of a lack of applicants.
We did recently get an abundance of solid applicants for a software intern position, especially when we removed the on-site requirement.
That is a big one. I work remote. I never want to go back in the office full-time. I'll go in for something big (it's a 10 hour drive so maybe once a year) but I value my home office. I put under 1,000 miles on my car last year. I put 15k on it the last time I actually worked in the office (contracting). That was more than a $3k raise in gas savings alone. Less stress, more productivity, TV is on streaming all day (either OAN or music), nobody coming up to my desk, and I wear a polo shirt, shorts, and slippers. You can see my shirt on my cam.
When I'm on team meetings I can hear all the noise in the background. I don't think I could stand it anymore in an office environment. My job can be done anywhere with good internet and a computer with plenty of monitors/screen space. I don't even take vacation until the end of the year - why should I? I'm already at home.
More employers should start to use that in negotiations. I've probably worked over 20 years from home when you count up a couple of different jobs I had. You will get employees. Obviously only certain jobs can work from home, but those are probably some of the harder ones to hire for since they are usually technical or specialized. Remote jobs also give the employer a MUCH bigger worker pool of talent to choose from since your next employee could be in a cabin in Montana, up in the mountains and off the grid, with starlink - or they could be right down the street.
Just my 2 cents.
I've worked from home for the past 14 years. I love it. When I have a few minutes, I can vacuum or throw in some laundry or even use the bathroom in private. I would never go back to an office. Gas, wear and tear on my car, time spent in traffic, all things that I don't have to worry about. It's truly life changing.
One big reason is that city mayors and councils are putting big pressure on companies to bring the workers back. Building leasings can come up and a lot of companies are like "Why do I need giant office space in the city when my workers are remote?"
It hits the restaurants, all the services that cater to the office workers, the transportation (trains, toll rolls ect) and it hits the state and city taxes hard when workers don't come to the office.
So there is big pressure to bring them back.
Management that thinks remote workers screw off all day is the reason. Granted, there are some people who just can't do it, but most people are more productive.
As a software dev, that’s troubling to hear.
The software dev field survived fairly well during the Obummer recession (I was able to get my first job in 2011) but I’m wondering if that will not be the case this time.
I have a job at a small company, but the company is being run into the toilet by a leftist moron with no business sense, so it’s starting to feel like time to move… but not if there’s such a glut of applicants.
Granted, everyone I’ve worked with in the last 10 years have been pretty iffy in their abilities and quality of work, but even if the pool of applicants is mostly low quality, that still makes the job market tougher for me.
Does he have a portfolio online of stuff he’s made so employers can check his code? That’s a big one.
What is he proficient with as far as programming languages? If he can’t write what’s hot, he won’t get calls.
If it’s a general lack of work history, he can always get a job at a help desk. The level 1 people can barely take accurate messages so if he shows up and documents well he will get a promo really fast. Time will create a work history but the challenge will be not wanting to kill yourself because your coworkers are idiots and he will need to keep coding or his skills will deteriorate. Or if he likes systems and can code he could get really good with scripting changes in short order. When you’re the guy affecting hundreds or thousands of systems with config changes you get paid really well to wield that power.
It’s not my field so I can’t answer specifics about what he knows but I appreciate you taking the time to write out advice. I’m going to pass along the info and hopefully it’ll help him out.