HN Explorer

Why are there no evening and weekend jobs?

7 points by epicureanideal ↗ HN
There is supposedly an extreme shortage of engineering talent in the Bay Area, and yet...

When I was on the job market a few months ago, not one company would agree to phone screens after 7pm (I was booked up otherwise) or interviews on the weekend (again, I was booked up otherwise). There was obviously high demand, with dozens of companies to talk to, but none of them would operate outside normal business hours.

I also have not been able to find any software engineering jobs posted for evening and weekend work. And yet, if it were available, even if only 1 in 20 people were interested, companies would be able to add 2% (5% x 40%) to the labor force, which is equivalent to an ENORMOUS number of work visas.

Does anyone know why this is?

9 comments

[ 4.2 ms ] story [ 43.6 ms ] thread
mattl
My guess: nobody who already works there wants to work weekends.

If you have weekend hackers, eventually you need weekend HR, managers, janitors, chefs, receptionists, etc.

csmdev
The shortage isn't real. It's an illusion meant to drive the wages down.

Most companies are pretty comfortable with the current market. They don't need to bend over backwards in order to find new employees. They all rush to them from all over the world because of the apparent high demand. If there really was a shortage, wages would skyrocket. Instead, they are staying low and barely growing with inflation. Only twice the national average last I checked.

When a company says it cannot find talent, it's actually saying it cannot find talent at the price they are willing to pay. Everybody just wants cheaper workers.

notduncansmith
I'm curious - what about the "illusions" of a shortage of developers would drive wages down? Basic laws of supply and demand would suggest a trend in the opposite direction.
csmdev
Companies complain there is a shortage. Everybody rushes to fill the demand, including students choosing a CS major over something else. Companies are then over-flooded with supply and get to pick what they want. It's a common tactic in capitalism.

If there really was a shortage, CS students would be recruited straight out of college. Instead, every software company wants years of experience for entry-level jobs. If they afford to put up ridiculous job requirements, they don't really need you. They simply want someone better for less money.

dllthomas
"If there really was a shortage, CS students would be recruited straight out of college. Instead, every software company wants years of experience for entry-level jobs. If they afford to put up ridiculous job requirements, they don't really need you. They simply want someone better for less money."

This assumes that CS students straight out of college are a (presumably imperfect) substitute for an experienced programmer. That very well might be the case, but it should at least be made explicit and ideally supported.

notduncansmith
Ah, that makes sense - and would explain why the current market doesn't reflect the supposed shortage of developers.
lifeisstillgood
For the lack of out of hours interviewing - I cannot say. Mostly a dissonance between the owners of the company (hurting for lack of talent) and the hiring managers (overworked and not seeing hiring as their top priority)

But as for weekend working - why hire a part time programmer ? They will not be able to absorb the current teams practises and idioms as easily as they are not online at the same time, they will not be able to come up to speed as quick if they only work 10 hours a week. Seems a bad option.

But yes, if you want to hire make it easier by doing evening interviews - seems sensible to me.

epicureanideal
I would think weekends would be more like 20 hours per week (10 hour days, 2 days per week) or at least 16. Maybe with a one week on-site weekdays-only training period, or spaced out on-site training during the week.
lifeisstillgood
So you are suggesting I hire someone who has a full time job already, and is unwilling to give it up to join me, but wants to then burn themselves out doing 10 hours a day Saturday and Sunday - and this is a good deal for me?

Why would I want to hire someone like that? If they cannot tell that's a bad idea how will they judge O(2^n) ?