On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 1:50 PM, Paul Johnson <p...@cogito.org.uk> wrote: > Tom Hawkins wrote: >> >> Such a database would help me counter by boss's >> argument that "it's impossible to find and hire Haskell programmers." >> >> > > There was a thread last week where someone asked who would be interested in > a hypothetical Haskell job. He got about 20 positive responses. This > agrees with the experience of Microsoft Research in 2006 when they > advertised for a third person to help with GHC development. They also had > about 20 applicants. > > So next time I hear the "you can't get the programmers" line I'm going to > respond with something like this: > > "If you post an advert for a Haskell developer you will get 20 > applicants. All of those people will be the kind of developer who > learns new programming languages to improve their own abilities and > stretch themselves, because nobody yet learns Haskell just to get a job. > > "If you post an advert for a Java developer you will get 200 > applicants. Most of them will be the kind of developer who learned > Java because there are lots of Java jobs out there, and as long as > they know enough to hold down a job then they see no reason to learn > anything."
Also, as an employee, I have to admit that any company that can say it uses Haskell for even part of its codebase immediately goes up in my esteem & puts it on the shortlist for where to send my resume. The same way that programmers knowing Haskell implies a certain interest in CS beyond "I want ma money", an employer using Haskell implies technically interesting software & a stronger commitment to quality over expediency. _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe