That's certainly a valid stat that I've heard before, but one wonders then if the situation shouldn't also be improving mechanisms when managing existing employees. California, where much of the tech industry is located, is an at-will state. If a bad programmer is really so bad, then shouldn't it be easier to terminate such an individual? Because the alternative, of rejecting 10 good programmers to get to a good one, seems just as much of a waste of programmer time and resources, as hiring a bad one. Perhaps there should be a probationary period with teeth, programmers should be hired as contractors for the first month.
