Debunking the Myth of a Desperate Software Labor Shortage: “Since people who cannot find programming work leave the field, unemployment statistics for programmers are meaningless. Twenty years after graduation from college, only 19% of computer science majors are still employed as programmers. For example, consider the recent age discrimination lawsuit filed against Siemens. An EEOC report on the suit found that in the firm’s layoff action, the termination rate for those over 40 was 10 times higher than for those under 40. The plaintiffs in the case were now working in jobs such as truck driver. Clearly, they were ‘employed,’ but they counted in government statistics as an employed truck drivers, not unemployed programmers.”

[bookmark]