Programmers themselves in the meantime appeared too many companies to belong to a very rare and prized species. "Where is a good programmer where you need one's" as the pet woe-cry of many a good and worthwhile firm, intent on retaining ultra-efficiency and international credibility in the never ending upward mobile markets. This is the situation on the worldwide scene but the trend is nowhere more noticeable than in the United Kingdom. It is interesting to note that traditionally it used to be said, with tongue in cheek, that if something happens in the US, the UK follows is lead some six months later. Though still possibly relevant when applied to weather-conditions, the high-speed movement which has become characteristic within the IT industry has put paid to the time-lapse within all sectors of the software industry; and the millennium Event happened almost instantaneously at least arguably on the same day, meant that there is greater uniformity all round.
Interestingly enough, the status and urgent call for programmers has continued well after the Millennium Bug turned out to be little more than a piece of quasi-intelligent paranoia and demand matched financial reward throughout the last year, according to the Software Industry Salary Survey by BASDA (the Business Application Software Developers' Association).
Salaries till remain refreshingly high compared to all other sectors of industry.
Demand is still increasing and has not been bet by adequate numbers of highly qualified staff. This highlights a need for more high standard training facilities, which are urgently and universally required. The main problem here is who is to foot he bill. Whereas some companies still offer to train and retain staff, the ones hoping to recruit form among the crÃ?me deal crÃ?me of the already highly skilled, could be in far a bit of a shock when the realization dawns that prospective company programmers have got even better elsewhere. All in all, it is still an excellent investment to have a company policy which avails top level training schemes for the ablest candidates as a backup to procuring already fully-qualified and up-to-date programming personnel.
There have also been reports of companies offering substantial pay increases in order to retain existing staff and offering even larger amounts for recruitment. For the year 2001, staff shortages are expected in the areas of sales, Java, C++ and DB skills. This again highlights the importance of training as a necessary requirement of maintain skill levels in the ever-developing IT industry.
There is a serious shortage of high quality staff to fill the growing number of vacancies. JAVA, VB, and C++ programmers are in short supply and are able to command significant increases in salary. A lot of financial carrots are even being offered to entice staff to change companies. And they are succeeding to attract good programmers to switch companies, places and positions, leaving great gaps waiting to be filled.
