I learned Rust (and C++!) at my current job, with Java being the only statically typed language i knew before that.
Unless you have reason to believe that a significant fraction of otherwise smart and capable static-language programmers will just never be able to learn Rust. I have no idea if that is true or not, and it would be interesting if it was.
I believe i said exactly this. Specifically i said:
> We're hiring devs who want to use Rust.
Which seems clear to me. My edit also addresses new Rust devs. Our requirement is that you want to work in Rust. Which shouldn't be shocking or controversial.
> My shop uses Rust, and all our hires are aimed at Rust, and it's still not easy - there's not a ton of people who know Rust.
Which rather implies that you are trying to hire people who already know Rust. You then asked rhetorically:
> So we should hire to bring on people who want to work in PHP, and then force them to use Rust?
Suggesting that you saw this as the only alternative to hiring people who already know Rust. I was pointing out a third possibility which i thought you had omitted.
So i wouldn't agree that this was exactly what you said. But, of course, i am very happy to hear that this is what you are doing!