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Comment by faangiq | Hacker News Reader

Never forget - labor shortages are actually always wage shortages. Especially in the tech industry. Start paying programmers a more reasonable share of the millions in profits we generate and your hiring problems will magically disappear.

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No.

You cannot magic up good programmers by paying more money.

It is a complete system, starting when education starts. It does require proper pay (the missing piece of the truck driver problem) but computing (and other creative technical professions) require aptitude and training!

That requires long term planning and educating the population.

The “No” is a terrible way to converse. Condescending about a nuanced topic, also not great. Their logic is that when you raise wages, you will attract more workers. This is probably true. Seeing high wages, workers may choose that field earlier on, etc.

Ummm, sorry sweaty, but he already said no, which means definitively the OP was wrong and that he knows better. Haven't you ever used twitter?

But seriously, especially in the US, high-wage jobs create whole educational industries in 3rd/2nd world countries, where their students train specifically to get a job in the US in such a high-paying industry. Taiwan does it with electrical engineers, India does it with aerospace engineers, and Vietnam/Indonesia have come a long way in tech/programming industries in the past decade for the same reason.

As soon as people get word that a certain industry is paying a premium, you get a slew of parents pushing their kids into that industry.

Calling someone "sweaty" is not great either. Or did you mean "Sweetie"?

I think this is true regarding truckers, as there seems to be many people who can drive trucks but choose not to. If they got paid more, they would drive (the author suggests, and I agree).

But is it true for programmers? Are there many people who can code but choose not to, but would if the pay was higher? That seems less likely.

Reliable sign that there is a labor shortage: employers are willing to take people off the street and train them at their (the employers') own expense.

If I don't see this happening, I don't see a labor shortage.

According to brief internet research, these trucking companies offer CDL training with a job upon completion of their program. Most of the major carriers are on this list.

CRST Trucking School

C.R. England CDL School

Knight Transportation

Prime Trucking School and Prime

Trucking Company

KLLM Trucking School and Company

FFE Trucking

Roehl Transport

Schneider Trucking School and Company

Swift Transportation

Stevens Driving School (Stevens Transport)

Wilson Logistics Training

Millis Transfer

USA Truck

Carter Express

Pam Transport

Estes

XPO Logistics

Maverick Transportation

Werner Enterprises

This is true, but look into the terms and conditions. For many/most, it's basically indentured servitude until you've paid off your debt to the company. Which may not be entirely unreasonable, given the economics and how it's structured. It may be a decent alternative to the military for some.

But it's not at all the same as being hired and trained on the job as a part of your work, as many jobs used to be and a few somewhat still are.

I listen to local radio stations during my travels and have been hearing a bunch of companies advertising about paid on-the-job CDL training.

If the demand for labor exceeds the population there will be a labor shortage that is not a wage shortage...

There is not a lack of population or even a lack of population capable of trucking, there is a lack of population willing to do it for the current wages being offered

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