Ask HN: Are you unable to find employment?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall state of the tech job market

  • Many posters across the US, Europe, Australia, and India report the toughest market they’ve seen in years, especially since late 2022.
  • Common patterns: hundreds of applications, very few interviews, multi‑round processes ending in rejection, and long unemployment spells (6–12+ months).
  • Juniors and mid‑levels report near-total lockout; seniors say they still get interviews but face lower offers, more hoops, and more competition.
  • Some respondents, especially with strong networks or niche skills (ML, embedded, SDET, finance/low‑latency), report landing jobs relatively quickly and question how “bad” the market really is.

Drivers: macroeconomy, AI, and company behavior

  • End of zero/low interest rates and post‑COVID correction: less speculative hiring, more focus on cost and profitability.
  • Many firms cut large portions of staff, froze or reduced hiring, and reallocated budgets into AI initiatives.
  • LLMs are seen as boosting productivity of existing engineers, especially juniors, reducing demand for new hires in some shops.
  • Several describe “fake” or placeholder job postings, very slow response times, and automated resume filters eliminating candidates early.

Offshoring, H‑1B, and pay

  • Strong perception that companies are shifting hiring to lower‑cost regions (India, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, etc.) and to H‑1B workers, often at much lower salaries.
  • Some argue this is straightforward cost optimization and has been happening for years; others frame it as systemic suppression of domestic wages and mobility.
  • Several describe US and UK teams being replaced or “restructured” into foreign offices.

Age, race, and DEI

  • Many older engineers report ageism: resumes filtered for “too much” experience, visible gray hair or long careers seen as a liability, advice to hide graduation years and early roles.
  • Debate around whether white men are now disadvantaged:
    • Some cite DEI policies, diversity targets, and anecdotes of being passed over.
    • Others counter that URM hiring is still limited, DEI peaked around 2020–21, and the primary issue is oversupply and cost, not race.

Education, oversupply, and skills

  • CS enrollment keeps rising; bootcamps and weak university programs are blamed for a glut of mediocre candidates.
  • Complaints that many grads can’t code without heavy library use; others say the real issue is employers demanding narrow, “perfect-fit” experience.

Coping strategies

  • Recurrent advice: network and get referrals; cold applications are seen as low‑yield.
  • Some pivot to self‑employment, consulting, game dev, or non‑tech work; others double down on open source to signal skill.