"Software engineers" did not price themselves out............at least not real software engineers.
The real software engineers positions were threatened by recent computer graduates who looked good on paper but had zero knowledge outside of a narrow band.........the narrow band of knowledge that got them the job.
The problem was that very few had any skills to speak of and expected high wages right out of school. The employers bought the hype and paid them well while replacing the true experts with said skill challenged new graduates.
This happened and I was right in the center of it when it went down.
Investment capitol for new startups helped speed it along by hiring new graduates with zero experience and not worrying about the payroll spending until they discovered that they were getting nothing for their money.
In my last two computer jobs back then, I got out before being let go when I saw the writing on the wall and watched the employers struggle to fill my position.
This played out for months after I left as friends filled me in.
Employers started with one employee and quickly added another when he struggled. Then they pulled skilled IT guys from another department who quickly got tired of babysitting a recent and unskilled employee and left.
By that time, investment capitalists were starting to expect returns on their investments but there were none.
There is a major disconnect between what these kids think they will make getting out of college compared to reality. I know because I was one of them. So was the last guy who worked for me. The interesting part is that these graduates who go to college right after high school who haven't worked in business other than working retail or restaurants haven't a clue how the real world works when they do actually get a job. After 4 years of rather difficult college work, I was stuck entering large Tshirt purchase orders into Quickbooks. It was so boring. I asked myself, I really went to 4 years of learning complicated calculus and finance to enter purchase orders for $14 an hour? That being said, it only took 10 months of that before I was able to get my first accounting job that I didn't think I even had a chance of getting because I had that simple basic Quickbooks knowledge (with a degree). That was for $17 an hour
. I've had to teach myself how to be good at every job sinse then because I've never had someone actually train me. These kids don't understand that to really make it in this world, you have to learn the position yourself and take charge of that position. If you think someone is going to sit there and train you, you are already losing. Also, you take the first job as a learning experience rather than the money. Something else they don't understand. You have to learn the real world, then you gradually move into better positions and make more money. College doesn't teach you how systems work. They teach you the basic fundamentals of the career you want to be in.
Many business want college students because they believe that If you are capable of graduating than you are certainly capable of being a good worker. That's not always the case as many students get into a job and realize it's not what they expected. One thing I've learned is that you always get what you pay for. So if you choose to hire people who just graduated at really cheap rates for a higher tier position, than you aren't going to get the best productivity. If you choose people who have a lot of experience, but cost more, you will probably do much better as a business. My belief is that when you are young, you always work for experience rather than the pay, because that experience will always give you leverage to make more down the line. Therefore if you ask for less than the other college grad, you'll get the position and jump start your career. You've always gotta ask yourself, where will I be in 5 years if I continue learning my current position to the best of my ability. It's not ever how you expect it to be, but generally you will be in a much better place.
