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There is a huge pool of exceptional junior engineers

(workweave.dev)
263 points mooreds | 1 comments | 30 Sep 25 03:17 UTC | HN request time: 0.201s | source
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hellojimbo ◴[30 Sep 25 03:42 UTC] No.45421670[source]▶
The real problem with hiring juniors is that tech does not have flexible pay. Realistically, hiring juniors is high risk high reward so they should naturally be on some kind of probational pay.
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ta1243 ◴[30 Sep 25 04:00 UTC] No.45421767[source]▶
Companies hire juniors at low rates, but then when they like them they don't increase the rates. Instead the juniors leave for another company.
replies(2): >>45421869 #>>45422720 #
throwawaysleep ◴[30 Sep 25 04:24 UTC] No.45421869[source]▶
If they have to pay market for seniors anyway, why pay to raise them?

If you had to pay market rates for cows once grown, would you breed cows and feed them?

Thats the problem. If you have the pay market when they become seniors, you may as well just pay market for seniors today.

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1. tavavex ◴[30 Sep 25 04:44 UTC] No.45421967[source]▶
You don't pay as much to retain an employee as you do to hire one. If your employee feels like they're earning 5-10% below market rate, it's probably far less likely that they'll want to find another job than if you pay them 25%+ below market rate. There is a cost and a risk to switching jobs, and most established people at the company won't jump ship due to a discrepancy as small as this. So, the upside is that you get to train people and pay them at a slight discount, as opposed to having to put up a higher senior pay offer to attract someone willing to do the job.

Though, as a current new grad, the desperation market is setting in. I am open to getting paid basically anything a person can survive on where I live to just gain more experience, and many other people are in the exact same situation. The junior market's demands will keep going down until either the benefit of employing us becomes large enough for companies, or until we all leave.