Is this "war for talent" local to the Bay Area? I departed the Bay Area ten years ago due to lack of affordable housing, but I'm genuinely curious if a strong developer job market exists anywhere else (I haven't found it where I am now).
Other locales have spokespeople who talk about how they are desperate for programmers and how great it would be to work there. Then you find out the reality and it's 50k top salary programming tps reports in an office park in the suburbs.
(B) Many more creative types than just developers are attracted to NYC such as fashion, tv, finance (if you don't think CDOs are creative then look closer).
(C) Because of the diversity of people you get really interesting experiences and ideas you couldn't get anywhere else. The Bay Area's idea of diversity is hackers that like to wear black t-shirts vs VCs that like to wear Polos.
(D) For being a much bigger city, New York is much more compact time-wise because you don't have to drive everywhere, which makes it fundamentally more liveable.
And (E) as for Boston, as an MIT alum currently still in the Boston area, I can tell you that nobody wants to stay here after graduation....the city is tiny and the bars close at 1 AND it's freezing 8 months out of the year.
Another amazing thing about those jobs is that they want you to sell your house, probably at a loss, and move to their obscure location, but they don't want to pay any relocation expenses.
My friends tell me it's pretty strong in Austin, TX too.
While the job scene here is tiny, there's still a lot of demand. Our last 2 hires have been from out of state.
Also, you get to live in the mountains...
'Average' salary for tech workers is $110K [1] so can you live on $2K/month?
[1] http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-01-20/business/17829511_1_si...
Also, if hackers were 1/10 as unionized as teachers or other public sector employees OR GM employees the median salary would be double that.
The company site doesn't even have job listings though. This is a problem. In a search I found a single job listing for your company on the web for an iPhone+Android developer. This was on a set of sites under something called MyCareerNetwork.com, which I had never heard of before as a job board. Checking for jobs within 100 miles of Louisville on Joel's board, where many microsoft developers hang out and which is much more well known, there are 0 search results anywhere near your city so I know you are not currently advertising there.
If I've guessed correctly about where you work, then you guys should probably at least advertise in known locations if you are really having problems finding people.
I would assume of course that since you can't find anyone locally you are doing the basic hygiene issues such as offering good packages, full relocation, and paying for interview expenses. But the one ad I found specifically says you won't pay relocation. This sort of thing is a huge red flag.
So, you say you are having trouble finding people. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the market though based on my brief investigation but is a problem with not trying hard and not providing even the minimal incentive necessary.
You should be aware that iPhone and Android skills are both quite hot right now and developers that are expert in both are extremely rare and command a premium. You should be looking at paying full relocation and salary in the $250k range. That's the market.