furuta (09/21/82)
The local paper (Seattle Times) carries a Sunday syndicated "Careers" column. This week, Joyce Lain Kennedy informed us that "the job market for computer programmers no longer flames." In part, she says, this seems due to "new high productivity systems now coming into use [that] will cut down on the need for programmers, perhaps by as much as 50 percent [this point was attributed to D. Ashley, a senior systems analyst in Pasadena, California]". My reading of the rest of this article is that what she's trying to tell us is that the market for entry level programmers and programmer trainees is not too good. But it was my impression that this type of job has always been hard to find. I'd be interested in hearing the impressions of people around the country as to how accurate these statements are. Is the computer programming business bust? What are the outlook for someone getting a bachelor's degree in computer science? How about a M.A.? How about a Ph.D.? --Rick ...ucbvax!lbl-unix!uw-beaver!uw-june!furuta ...decvax!microsoft!uw-beaver!uw-june!furuta or Furuta@Washington from the ARPAnet
jis (09/22/82)
I don't know about the job prospects of Bachelors and Masters degree holders in Computer Science, but there seems to be absolutely no problem in getting jobs at the Ph. D. level. Usually, someone who is about to complete his Ph. D. has several alternative jobs lined up for him to pick from. J. Mukerji BTL Holmdel (oops) hocsd!jis
trb (09/22/82)
In this area of the country (greater NYC) and, I would assume, in other areas, clever programmers (BS CS with experience) are hard to come by. Always were. Trade school programmers DO have it hard now, the "on-the-job training programs" are hard to get in to. The smart money knows that competence in programming has only a little to do with getting degrees from colleges. Many clever hackers coming out of universities today were probably damned clever hackers when they came out of high school. Andy Tannenbaum Bell Labs Whippany, NJ (201) 386-6491