I have to agree with Kasia on this one. There are a lot of "programmers" out there who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag. And many are now complaining that they can't find jobs paying enough money.
I don't mean to discount the good, smart folks who are looking for work. I hope they're they first ones hired when things turn around. But as for the rest of the bunch, maybe Burger King has openings?
I make a decent living in my job. In fact, the only real reason that I'd like to make more money is that the cost of housing (not living--housing) is so damned high in the Bay Area. When I moved out here, I had to sell my $92,000 1 and 1/2 story house in Ohio. I way making $730/month house payments. I moved into a crappy apartment in Santa Clara (where I still live) with a $1,400/month rent. That's right. I had to pay twice as much for 1/2 the space. I have no yard, no garage, no patio, and no view.
Ugh. Do I think I should make more money because I'm a programming god of some sort? No. But I'd really like to live in a house (or at least a townhouse) again. The problem is that every decent house costs a minimum of $700,000 and event a decent townhouse goes for over $350,000. At this rate, I'm gonna be stuck in my crappy apartment for a long, long time. Or I'll just move.
Posted by jzawodn at September 08, 2002 04:49 PM
yeah, it blows. I am looking to buy a place (or rather sell myself to the bank...), and the places that are "this would be a good place to live for some years" starts at ~400-450k (townhouses).
Nice "real" houses in a nice neighborhood (like where my tiny apartment is) are easily 600-700k or more. Many pages in the local real estate listings have the lowest at "just under a million". Oh, great.
:-)
Z, you forget to mention, when listing the benefits of your Ohio home, the equity you were earning. Now, your $1400/mo is wasted, with nothing left to show for it. At least you getting some of it back in OH.
FWIW, I have a nice yard, a two-car garage, and a nice big deck. And of the $1265 a month I pay to the bank, only $932 is wasted. Of course, I have weather, too. ;)
I hear you -- silicon valley prices are insane -- as are Boston prices. Does Yahoo offer a viabl telecommuting alternative?
Scott
I know the feeling.. I work for government contractor and make a very good living. But I am trying to build a team of individuals that can perform to todays standards in programming and networking, and I am just talking about todays standards, not the cutting edge stuff. What I have problems finding are individuals that have experience in more than just one field and actually know what they are talking about. It's a needle in a haystack issue looking for smart people that are worth what they are asking... I don't mind paying, just want someone that can at least cut it, not B*** their way through... Makes technical people like me at my company look bad.
