If the demand for software programmers is on the rise, how can companies afford to be so picky about applicants? Are they simply sacrificing quantity for quality? Or are they unfairly weeding out potential employees based on characteristics other than quality, ability, and skill? Does an employee have to match society's computer nerd archetype to be hired?
Only 2-4 percent of applicants are offered jobs from the most desirable employers in the Top Tier (see IT Labor Demands). Throughout the whole industry, jobs remain unfilled while available programmers remain jobless. Companies want the best employees available, and are justified in demanding top-notch workers since the quality of a product is compromised by someone with inadequate capabilities. While the threat of litigation makes employers cautious about firing employees, in hiring, employers can allow themselves to be guided by unfair prejudices of anyone who does not look like themselves, anyone outside of the norm. In this way, employers unfairly deny opportunities to qualified applicants, and sacrifice both the number of programmers they employ and the quality of workers.
Employers may refuse to hire young or inexperienced applicants because they lack a narrowly defined skill set. New college graduates or immigrants can slow down critical projects with errors. Applicants who have been in the field for a few years have general programming ability and experience, but may also lack specific skills. If given a choice, an employer would prefer to spend money and time training a younger employee who will be willing to work longer hours for less money. Older, more experienced programmers command higher salaries.
But, in addition to financial reasons, companies may justify their hiring practices on the faulty perception that programmers over thirty years old do not fit the mold. They might fall behind the curve or not be able to keep up with new methods and technology in the future.
By promoting the narrow archetype of a nerdy programmer who sleeps in a sleeping bag under his desk in his cubicle, society has limited our perceptions of who can be a good programmer. This image has historically discouraged people who are not the typical nerd from entering the field. But even if one choose the computer science path, he or she faces an additional challenge while gaining employment. Employers have a hard time aligning the image of a young, white, male super-geek, consumed with hunting down and squashing the bugs in his latest creation, with applicants who have families and interests outside of programming, or middle-aged.
Even now, when women and minorities have gained more acceptance as programmers, older employees are still hurt by this misleading image. The disposable-employee mentality hobbles companies because they refuse to use the resources available. Only the companies who utilize skilled programmers of all ages and all walks of life will thrive on a wave of innovation in the future.