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Businesses The Almighty Buck United States Technology

Unemployment Hits New High In Silicon Valley 338

Though there may be some degree of cushion for IT workers in the US generally, Slatterz writes "The steadily climbing unemployment rate in Silicon Valley has reached a shocking four-year high of 6.6 per cent. Recent statistics indicate that the percentage of unemployed workers in the sunny state of California has increased to 7.7 in August — up from 7.4 per cent in July. Jeffrey Lindsay of Bernstein Research explained that a number of Internet firms were chronically overstaffed."
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Unemployment Hits New High In Silicon Valley

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  • by jacquesm ( 154384 ) <j AT ww DOT com> on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @08:58AM (#25118871) Homepage

    move to India ;)

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      good call. Good curry, lots of women (most of them put out for Americans, no game required ), and plenty of opportunity for high level jobs in their outsourcing industry. Plus, with the lax laws and easy access to grade-A Afghanistan opium, the place is wilder than Las Vegas. I spent 6 months there, partying like a rock star nightly.
      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        Instead of India, why not move to the Northeast U.S. or Maritime Canada? Lots of open jobs here. Companies will hire almost anybody.

        (For now anyway; who knows how the recession will affect the future.)

        • by Bob Uhl ( 30977 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @11:08AM (#25120779)

          Instead of India, why not move to the Northeast U.S. or Maritime Canada?

          Because then one's in New England or Canada? New England is the land of atrocious accents, cranky people and the nanny state. Canada is the land of the nanny state (nice & polite people, though).

          Granted, either's still more familiar than India. But blech. Give me the West any day.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by bishiraver ( 707931 )

            If you had to deal with people from the rest of the country constantly calling you an asshole, cranky, etc -- you might be an asshole and cranky to them too!

            In all seriousness, have you spent that much time in NE? I mean, NYC isn't nearly that bad. Just don't stare like a bugeyed idiot at the hot women on the train, keep a safe distance from the homeless guy (passed out? maybe. He could be a zombie.) curled up on the sidewalk next to grand central station, and whatever you do - watch where you're going, don

    • Are you skilled enough to get a visa?
      • Re:One question (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jacquesm ( 154384 ) <j AT ww DOT com> on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:15AM (#25119073) Homepage

        good point, quality is pretty high there.

        I don't know why I rated an 'offtopic', I'm deadly serious. The weather is better, cost of life is much lower and there is plenty of opportunity to be employed in the IT field, especially as go-between.

        • Re:One question (Score:4, Insightful)

          by oldspewey ( 1303305 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:22AM (#25119143)

          The weather is better

          That one is arguable, depending on personal preference and depending which Indian city we are talking about ... four straight months of 38C with 90% humidity isn't everybody's idea of fun.

          And there are other lifestyle challenges in India that are not to be entered into lightly by the average westerner.

          • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

            by n1ckml007 ( 683046 )
            Any one run into "delhi belly" when your were over there?
          • That one is arguable, depending on personal preference and depending which Indian city we are talking about ... four straight months of 38C with 90% humidity isn't everybody's idea of fun.

            And don't forget monsoon season!

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by Nadaka ( 224565 )

            Sounds just like Mississippi.

        • You got rated OT because you're an idiot. I've known Indians who moved back and they hate it.

          NOBODY likes the weather in the major IT hub cities, the traffic and pollution and property prices are outlandish.

          Meanwhile, condos in Silicon Valley barely cost more than a condo in Bangalore, and we have some of the best weather on the planet.

  • Hmmm ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by oldspewey ( 1303305 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:05AM (#25118955)
    Guess I better stop reading /. and get to work.
    • I think unemployment is the point of the spear. In reality, if the time and money is spent upfront to build an application or data center to be redundant and stable, you gain great returns on long term maintenance. You should be able to spend most of your time reading (researching on) /.. Or on projects that add value to the company. IT companies are starting to learn they only need staff for emergencies and projects. If that resource is part time and shared with other companies (cloud computing, consu
  • by paniq ( 833972 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:07AM (#25118971) Homepage

    These people are not unemployed, they are working at home, preparing Web 3.0!

  • by Chrisq ( 894406 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:10AM (#25118999)
    How many people have become unemployed and then taken a job at 2/3 of the salary? How many people would like to be employed but not registered as unemployed (e.g. wife/husband still has job)?

    How many people put up with crap they'd normally resign over, because of the state of the jobs market. In my experience when unemployment is over 4 or 5% this affects 10 to 15% of the employed too.
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Shivetya ( 243324 )

      Let us ask other questions.

      How many are too afraid to take on a new job because they feel they might not measure up?

      How many are too lazy to learn new skills because it might be hard, get in the way of WOW, or posting on boards?

      How many people would not take a lower paying job because it bruises their ego?

      Really, if you don't have a job ANY job is better. I worked at a grocery store for a stint while going to classes at night... at one time I held down two jobs costing me 12 to 14 hours of my day to stay

      • by hal2814 ( 725639 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:38AM (#25119349)

        "Guess what, those working only 40 hours a day won't get anywhere."

        Crap, I only work about 9 hours per day. I need to step it up.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Guess what, those working only 40 hours a day won't get anywhere.

        I usually try to work less in a day than there are hours in a day. Your time compression powers amaze me! Do you have a newsletter?

      • by Project2501a ( 801271 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @10:08AM (#25119799) Journal

        Let us ask other questions.

        yes, lets

        How many are too afraid to take on a new job because they feel they might not measure up?

        How many do not have the financial means to get training to get that jobs? have you seen those cisco training courses? bat crazy money

        I would like to ask you what makes you think that *everybody* can work like that? or should work like that? what kind of attitude is that towards the 40-hour week? there was blood on the streets to win those 40 hours and now you're implying that we should go back to working day and night? I thought i worked to make a living, and not the other way around.

        How many are too lazy to learn new skills because it might be hard, get in the way of WOW, or posting on boards?

        How many are not willing to put in to learn new skills because they'd rather put their time towards raising their children or going out on a date or staying home with their girlfriend and oiling her hair/giving her a backrub?

        maybe not everybody is lazy

        Guess what, those working only 40 hours a day won't get anywhere.

        not everybody has the same physical/psychological strength to work those hours. and by work i mean both make a living and learn something new. if you can do it, more kudos to you. why are you berating those who cannot? or will not? why are you creating a hypothetical social/work scale where everybody has to measure the size of their dick compared to yours?

        furthermore, where are we supposed to go? wtf? is there a "destination" planned? cuz i didn't get the memo.

        There are a lot of jobs out there. If you go through life in your 9 to 5 relying on things never changing you will get stung. When the job you had is lost it can be blamed on the economy many times, however not being able to get a new one rest on yourself more than not.

        the idea of changing 4801840938 jobs in a lifetime may not be comforting to everybody for reasons of personal priorities and/or preference. i hate looking for a new job. it's draining me, psychologically. Life is not a dick measuring competition, again.

        It's only in Western Capitalism that the idea of financial insecurity and instability pushing people into staying with there jobs

        insert marxist rant here, but still, please get off your high horse. not everybody subscribes to the protestant ethic

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by COMON$ ( 806135 ) *
        I beg to differ sir. If you think that you have to work more than 40 hours a day to get anywhere you are dead wrong. It isnt the hours in a day, it is the quality of the hours. I pride myself in the fact that I have gotten good enough at my job to where I can get quality work done in half the time of IT workers in the same field. I am not in the practice of putting in hours just to put in hours. I actually HAVE a life outside work, so if I want to work a 6 hour day, I go home. This is IT, I will pull a
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        "Guess what, those working only 40 hours a day won't get anywhere."

        Apart from the obvious mistake, this depends quite a lot on where you are going.

        If you want to pursue a career, no matter what, working as much as you can until you either burn out or get succesfull your strategy might work.

        If you want to pursue a balanced life, with time for a family, hobbies, and a general relaxed attitude, taking it easy might be the way.

        It helps if you don't care about your neighbours bank balance or the size of his SUV

      • by VJ42 ( 860241 ) *

        Guess what, those working only 40 hours a day won't get anywhere.

        Well, that all depends on where you want to go. Here in the UK\Europe, we think that 48 hours [berr.gov.uk] is more than enough. Most people work less.

      • by infinite9 ( 319274 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @01:36PM (#25123701)

        Guess what, those working only 40 hours a week won't get anywhere.... in their current job.

        If you tolerate being treated like crap, you'll be treated like crap. Public corporations by definition have a fiduciary responsibility to squeeze as much productivity from their employees as possible at the expense of everything else including morals and ethics.

    • by Otter ( 3800 )

      How many people would like to be employed but not registered as unemployed (e.g. wife/husband still has job)?

      A spouse with a job doesn't disqualify you from being officially unemployed.

      • by Chrisq ( 894406 )
        True, but most people only go and register as unemployed if they will get some benefit.
    • by furball ( 2853 )
      Why have a job when you can have your own business?

      <ralph wiggums>Oh boy! When I grow up, I want to work for someone else!</ralph wiggums>
    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by R2.0 ( 532027 )

      "How many people would like to be employed but not registered as unemployed (e.g. wife/husband still has job)?"

      Actually, unemployment statistics are derived from surveys, NOT from claims at the unemployment office. Those numbers are reporte4d as "new jobless claims" or somesuch. The survey method is more accurate in one sense - there are people who meet the definition of "unemployed" that do not get unemployment benefits (fired for cause, etc.)

      One of the criticisms, however, is that you only count as unem

  • Australia sucks too (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CuteSteveJobs ( 1343851 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:11AM (#25119015)
    Employers are being very picky - they demand an exact skills match. They demand you are already familiar with the exact software package you are using. They're no longer willing to retrain even for permanent roles, or even let you read the manual. It's getting specialized, and IMHO the specialization has got ridiculous. It's no longer enough to be a C++ Programmer for example, if they're hiring a C++ Programmer for Embedded Systems. They can afford to be that fussy. A lot of tech that was popular a few years ago has died out. Don't waste time applying for jobs unless your resume is a perfect match. Instead think about taking some time off to retrain. Java is still in demand for example. Or start your own company. Or switch to something else. IT is fun, I guess, but if you want to make money there are much more lucrative businesses.
    • by unity100 ( 970058 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:17AM (#25119093) Homepage Journal
      there was an ad once, in a major turkish newspaper for a mechanical engineer.

      They required that the applicant should have a BS, MS in mechanical engineering in an obscure field, that the applicant knew excellent Russian, English, Turkish and Arabic, s/he didnt have any issues with traveling and the list went on.

      The only thing missing in requirements was an astronaut certification.

      The ad became famous.
    • by Shados ( 741919 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:36AM (#25119317)

      I remember in 2006 an ad for a senior .NET developer job... The catch is, that ad was obviously written by HR, not IT...so they used their canned senior developer ad...

      Senior developer often means 6-8 years experience. So they asked for someone with 6-8 years experience with the .NET framework 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005.

      Think about it for a sec. in 2006, 6-8 years experience with VS2005... whoops much? .NET in general came out in 2002, so even if someone used the beta 1-2 years before general release, worked at Microsoft or something, you could at best brush the requirement at 6 year... 8 year was plain and simple impossible.

      Funny stuff.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by TheLink ( 130905 )
        No surprise a lot end up hiring:
        a) liars
        b) people who can barely read.
        c) people who don't care

        They're selecting against people who can read, actually care and prefer not to work in a company where the incompetence is clearly showing.
        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Shados ( 741919 )

          Yup, exactly. I've unfortunately end up in companies like that a few times (consultant and all, I've seen everything). Its clear that liars catch a lot of jobs like that... its just too easy to say "I've worked in .NET since 1999!" and have HR eat it up. Then when the interview process moves on to you talking to the architect or project manager, THEN you tell the truth (prettied up). At that point you basically don't have competition, and its very easy to snatch the job.

          Its so sad, I am down to telling all

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by MadShark ( 50912 )

      Your average C++ programmer from the non-embedded world will likely be missing a set of skills that are necessary for a lot of embedded work. For example, do they know how to use a oscilloscope? A logic analyzer? A voltmeter? Arbitrary waveform generator? Emulators? Protocol analyzer? Are they used to working on devices that might only have a few K of RAM or even ROM? They could be a good fit if you need someone working on application level stuff, rather than bringing up the low level hardware. It all

    • by samkass ( 174571 )

      It's no longer enough to be a C++ Programmer for example, if they're hiring a C++ Programmer for Embedded Systems.

      I'm willing to give them a pass for embedded systems. That field is inherently more specialized than general application programming that you really do need someone who knows how to think that way. And there are enough "gotchas" in each specific language in the embedded space that you want someone with at least reasonable familiarity with both embedded and the particular embedded language.

      On the other hand, I don't know any company worth working for that wouldn't figure out a way to bring really good peop

    • Obviously supply far outweighs demand.

      The solution is for the worker to train in something in which demand is high.

    • "It's no longer enough to be a C++ Programmer for example, if they're hiring a C++ Programmer for Embedded Systems. They can afford to be that fussy."

      Considering the skill set for an embedded programmer is different than just a programmer, I can see why. It takes awhile to get the needed skills and today's embedded systems aren't as forgiving. eg. cellphones, set top boxes.

    • by Wansu ( 846 )

      Employers are being very picky - they demand an exact skills match. ... They can afford to be that fussy. ... Don't waste time applying for jobs unless your resume is a perfect match.

      That has been going on in the US since the mid 90s. At one company, I saw a position go unfilled for nearly a year. The job posting was a laundry list of highly specialized skills. Eventually, they hired some guy who had about 2/3's what they were asking for. They passed up the chance earlier to hire people who didn't

  • do they take into account the people who entered the industry in the recent years and moved to silicon valley or california to work ? its not as if i.t. is a stale field. its one of the most popular choices for youth actually.
    • by dbcad7 ( 771464 )
      That's always happening.. This is based upon people who file for unemployment and other compensation.. and it can be worse than it appears, because employers are hit financially when they fire an employee and that employee is able to file for and receive unemployment.. If you can fire an employee and make it look like the employees fault, and they can't collect, it doesn't cost the company.
    • by Skreems ( 598317 )

      its not as if i.t. is a stale field. its one of the most popular choices for youth actually.

      That was true 3 or 4 years ago. I started undergrad in 2001, and it seemed to me that interest started to drop off steeply in subsequent years as the .com bubble collapsed and people just looking to make a quick buck moved over to biotech. Especially in the last couple years it's seemed like the number of good people looking for work has been dwindling, and fewer competent people are coming out of college.

  • by mcgrew ( 92797 ) * on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:15AM (#25119069) Homepage Journal

    Will Rogers famously said some time in the 1930s during the Great Depression, "A recession is when you neighbor's out of work. A depression is when you're out of work!"

    To all of you in Silicon Valley: I hope it's just a recession.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      Better yet, it's similar to what we saw in 2000 - it's a correction. When a certain section of the economy is artifically inflated - such as real estate, particularly in CA and FL - it has to come back down to an honest market. Everything will shake out as it ALWAYS has - even right after the Great Depression, which gets more and more overrated as the years go by (though our industrialization and new training occurred due to a war there that helped lead to recovery, particularly afterward). Some people
      • by antifoidulus ( 807088 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @10:31AM (#25120193) Homepage Journal
        And yet for the most part, the market was allowed to correct in 2000/2001. For starters, esp. after Bush came in office, he didn't have very many friends in Silicon Valley, so he couldn't give 2 shits if businesses there failed. Although /. readers probably suffered disproportionately compared to the general population in that downturn, it was natural and necessary. However, this time allowing those morons who made bad investments(at the corps and at the individual level) to suffer is really what this country needs, and yet because its an election and because large amounts of morons failed and because the CEOs in this case are much more buddy-buddy with the politicians, they will not allow what needs to happen to happen.

        The repubs want to pay the same morons who got themselves into this mess $17k/hr of government money, because heaven forbid someone who is rich actually have to take responsibility for anything bad.

        If the government is honestly concerned about the credit markets seizing up, then just go offer the money directly. Increase student loan limits(and decrease rates), set up more small business loans, esp. businesses who will invest in R&D in things like alternative energy. Let morons suffer for being morons. Rewarding greedy morons defies EVERYTHING the United States once stood for.
        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          The financial problems of 1990 and 2000 were just small corrections. In the long term none of them had any impact on the level of debt [marketoracle.co.uk] in the economy.

          There is a very big reason why the current financial crisis is worse than anything anyone remembers. The last 50 years of living beyond our means is finally catching up to us. There simply isn't any more available credit, we've spent it all.

          Any attempt at a financial rescue that does nothing to reduce debt, is no rescue at all. The only long term way out of

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by mi ( 197448 )

          The repubs want to pay the same morons who got themselves into this mess $17k/hr of government money, because heaven forbid someone who is rich actually have to take responsibility for anything bad.

          I don't know, who the "repubs" want to pay, but the Democrats' intentions are certainly "less than honorable". Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama are the two-highest beneficiaries of the Fannie and Freddie lobbying efforts [bloomberg.com] — despite the vast accounting [sec.gov] irregularities [marketwatch.com] of both monsters.

          If you are looking for

      • by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

        it's a correction. When a certain section of the economy is artifically inflated - such as real estate, particularly in CA and FL - it has to come back down to an honest market. Everything will shake out as it ALWAYS has - even right after the Great Depression

        So the Great Depression was a "correction"? Okaaaay.... you might want to read Only yesterday [virginia.edu] by historian Frederick Lewis Allen, written in 1932.

      • by John Jamieson ( 890438 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @01:04PM (#25123097)

        You said.
        "Everything will shake out as it ALWAYS has - even right after the Great Depression, which gets more and more overrated as the years go by"

        I would argue the opposite. We seem to minimize the great depression.
        1. In all the charts for stock market performance, I NEVER see one that goes back to 1929. Hmmm
        2. If you are talking about corrections, you cannot say "everything will shake out... even right after the great depression".
        First, the correction was the 1929 stock market crash. Second, everything did not shake out, there were people who lived with hunger and poverty for 10+ years.
        Third, many people lost everything. My grandfather lost about $250,000 when the financial institutions collapsed. He never recovered a cent.
        Forth, it may have taken another decade to overcome if it hadn't been for the horrible war.

        You KNOW the great depression was a CATASTROPHIC event. How can you tell? Look at the effect it had on the people who lived through it. They still waste NOTHING, and have a hard time throwing things out. Anything that has that effect on people 70 years later is serious.

  • by BlowHole666 ( 1152399 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:16AM (#25119087)
    Well the standard of living cost so much in CA. Why not employ someone who lives in say Texas for $65,000 a year. Rather then pay for someone who lives in CA for $85,000 just so they can afford their standard of living. Who knows maybe everyone can start flipping houses and sell a 1,000 sqft house for 1 million and change.... Oh wait that market crashed too.
    • That's one of the reasons why I try not to work for companies headquartered in Silicon Valley. To rise through the management ranks, you really need at some point to relocate to that festering shithole. No, thank, you.

      I'd need a 50% pay increase to break even if I moved out there to keep my current standard of living, even though our household has no debt. (We paid off the mortgage last month, we never miss a credit card payment, and we paid cash for our cars.) And the schools in California simply suck.

      Bu

    • by Andy Dodd ( 701 )

      Yup. Texas isn't the only location. Upstate NY (I live near Binghamton) is another cheap area. Live like a king on $65k or like a pauper on $85k+? Not surprised the jobs are getting moved away from SV. Companies don't want to pay that extra $20k+/year just to make up for COL differences.

  • Not to worry (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:22AM (#25119153)

    IT workers are cushioned from the US economic downturn. [slashdot.org]

  • by digitaldc ( 879047 ) * on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:33AM (#25119277)
    Wait a minute, didn't this happen already in 2001?

    My advice: learn how to fail on Wall Street and ensure a massive golden parachute for yourself
  • by jstott ( 212041 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:33AM (#25119279)

    But I thought that IT Workers Cushioned From US Economic Downturn [slashdot.org]. I mean, I read it on Slashdot just a few days ago!

    -JS

  • by LibertineR ( 591918 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:40AM (#25119375)
    Unemployment means time, baby!

    I just know, that with enough free time, I will be the one to take down Exchange Server! That's right, ME! I can DO it!.

    First, I'm going to toss out all that stuff that nobody uses, because essentially, we are talking EMAIL here, right?

    And now that I am unemployed, I don't have to waste my weed money on CalTrain, bitches!

    • by Shados ( 741919 )

      Well, I know you're joking, but technically the email part is the least important bit of Exchange and the one people would probably give up first...so well...

      • Look dude, I just spent the last year PERFECTING my calendaring engine. Instead of all those CPU cycles wasted on checking Free/busy status, MINE asks you via Clippy: "So, just when the fuck to do feel like doing it, baby? Fuck em if they don't show, cause its YOUR world!"

        I tell ya, its the bomb.

  • Lets see who is going to top the list. Last I heard, MINN has something like 6.8% unemployment and climbing. Looks like the food lines will soon be forming out there in the beach-o-plenty state...

  • Interesting. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rindeee ( 530084 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @09:43AM (#25119431)

    This is an interesting problem that I've seen repeated almost every place I've been (caveat: I'm a contractor). Businesses often take the approach that if IT's broken, it must be due to a lack of staffing either in skills or numbers. In reality, often IT is broken due to a lack of decision making prowess in upper management. IT is treated as a toy box and milestones and scope are like melting jell-o in terms of their definition and stability. Not getting the result you personally want out of IT? No problem, hire the next guy through the door that talks a good talk. In the end, IT is the one area that suffers the greatest harm due to 'too many cooks in the kitchen' and as such, 'this'. I hate to say it, but IT needs to bleed a little bit if order is to return.

    • Re:Interesting. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by sheldon ( 2322 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @10:16AM (#25119939)

      I would tend to agree, that the main problem that IT suffers from is management.

      I don't know how it is at other companies, but the last few places I have worked IT managers generally have been technology guys who didn't understand technology and decided to get into management. Few of them were at all interested in actual management. They weren't attending MBA classes, they weren't reading books on management. They just saw a big paycheck and that's it.

      More often then not these managers have not only been bad at making technology decisions, but worse they don't know how to manage people.

      The end result has been IT staff who have no priorities, no guidance, and no ability to make a final decision. So projects wonder along endlessly. Not to mention destroyed morale.

  • "The steadily climbing unemployment rate in Silicon Valley has reached a shocking four-year high of 6.6 per cent. Recent statistics indicate that the percentage of unemployed workers in the sunny state of California has increased to 7.7 in August -- up from 7.4 per cent in July.

    The steadily climbing unemployment rate in Silicon Valley has reached a shocking 100-year high of 110.10011 per 1100100. Recent statistics indicate that the per1100100age of unemployed workers in the sunny state of California has increased to 111.10110 in August -- up from 111.01101 per 1100100 in July.

    There, fixed that for you.

  • Shocking high (Score:3, Informative)

    by antivoid ( 751399 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @10:15AM (#25119929) Homepage
    "Shocking high" ??? The world's average is 30%, and where i live, its 25%.
  • Check out the U6 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by plopez ( 54068 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @10:16AM (#25119937) Journal

    Now at 10.7 pct for August. Counts part-timers looking for full-time work, the discouraged etc. at 10.7 for the US.

    I couldn't find numbers for silly valley, but my gut feeling is that it is above the national average there.

    • link for the U6 (Score:5, Informative)

      by plopez ( 54068 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @10:21AM (#25120035) Journal

      here's the link for the U6

      http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab12.htm [bls.gov]

      should have posted it to begin with.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Sponge Bath ( 413667 )

      Wish I had mod points for this.

      There is the widely reported unemployment number (5-6%) which does not include all of the unemployed. Then there is the real (but rarely unreported) unemployment number which is now in the double digits. This is from the BLS, not some made up partisan blog.

      • by Kjella ( 173770 )

        There's always a bunch of people that fall into those "other" categories that may or may not be real applicants on the job market. If you look at the lowest of lows from the last 10 years they're at 6.8%, so it's less than 4% up no matter how you count it. It's quite a bit but it's not like the BLS numbers are extreme, it's only 0.3% over september 2003. Now if they add another 5% on top of that, you're talking serious unemployment.

  • As a self employed techie in SF who has dealt with many SV tech firms, I can firmly state that the majority of tech workers in Silicon Valley are overpaid, under-skilled and a massive cull of the cubicle heard in any large tech company would be a wise move for any manager to make.

    Tech is no different than any other industry in that the majority of people that are in it are in it for a paycheck. There are those bright stars are who are in it for the passion, and it shows, but they are far and few between.

    So

  • How are the salaries of senior management doing?

    Yes, I thought so.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      As a long-time Silly-valley resident, I've seen this phenomenon before. Senior management actually get bonuses directly proportional to the amount "saved" by downsizing. Right now, looking at the traffic patterns around here, we see a total drop in traffic on the roads, but an increase in both high-end managermobiles and in bluecollarmobiles (cheap SUVs). It's not a good time to live here, unless you happen to be in the pointy end of the pyramid. Jaded? Yeah, so what?
  • by adturner ( 6453 ) on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @11:55AM (#25121669) Homepage

    1) All of California isn't silicon valley or even high tech. A lot of those lost jobs have been in housing and farming.
    2) 1,200 of those jobs were financial sector. Sure some of those are IT, but clearly not all of them and it's unlikely they're a majority.
    3) "trade, transportation, utilities" aren't areas where you see a lot of IT.

    Frankly, this isn't nearly as bad as the dot com bust and there are good jobs to be had, but companies are watching head count and so people who don't interview well, only got into tech because of the $$$ not because they'd be any good at it, have little to no experience (You're just out of college? Great! What OSS project did you work on? == blank stare) or can't work well with others are going to find their options very limited.

    My company has been hiring and I'm constantly amazed with the large quantity of crappy resumes and relatively few well written ones. And I'm not looking for people who double majored CS/EE at MIT, just people who are competent, bright and have a real desire to learn.

I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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