Should I think of becoming a programmer?

Should I think of becoming a programmer is an article in the Guardian which highlights the supposed skills shortage, and yet again today I read in an article in Computing that states their is a skills shortage.

One of the main points in the Guardian article is that Trade magazines give the impression that:
"...the IT industry is mainly short of overeducated young people who will work for not much money. "

However the Computing article states that their is a skills shortage and due to offshoring the career path that people need to start at is closed.

So why do jobs advertise in the South East for people with at least a degree and 3-5 years experience and expect them to take a salarly of £25,000? Do employers truly think that recruiting someone, expecting them to work long hours under a psychotic manager, not have a family so they demand flexible working, pay them less then their equivalently educated peers and make them redundant when they reach 40 will entice young people into the industry?

Unless of course the employers are trying to recruit from overseas anyway and by advertising in the UK with salaries no one can live on is a way to let the government hand out more work visas because their is a skills shortage?

Well one thing I have begun to notice is that employers can get overseas labour but not all overseas employees are stupid and so happy to live in the UK once they realise that the salarly they are recieving means they are being exploited and cannot live at the similar lifestyle they had in their home country. I have worked with Eastern Europeans and Chinese people who are not so desperate to work here that they will leave their jobs if they are being exploited. Also it news is coming out of India that the turn over for staff in the outsourcing companies is reaching the same standard as in Western countries.


Technorati Tags: career, Jobs, Skills Shortage, exploitation, The Guardian