I agree that the programmer shortage is overblown. I'm a contractor and am currently putting out feelers for my next gig. My resume and background are "very good" from a recruiter's perspective, and even I have issues getting in the door at some of these places. The sad bit is that most of the time I find out the job is something a junior dev right out of college could do, and the rate is $65/hr.
Along that vein, almost no place is interested in paying for talent. I consistently get incredulous responses from recruiters when I tell them my rate. Many companies cap their reqs at $90/hr or $100/hr. This seems like a decent rate, but a major part of the problem is that the recruiting firm wants to take 30% of that hourly rate. If the maximum cap is 100, that means the contractor is getting (at most) $70/hr. Companies either need to up their rate, or cut out the middle man completely. The vast majority of recruiters I encounter today have a premium LinkedIn account and just spam everyone that matches keywords. Are you telling me a company couldn't have an intern do that kind of thing for a lot less than the recruiters are getting?
Along that vein, almost no place is interested in paying for talent. I consistently get incredulous responses from recruiters when I tell them my rate. Many companies cap their reqs at $90/hr or $100/hr. This seems like a decent rate, but a major part of the problem is that the recruiting firm wants to take 30% of that hourly rate. If the maximum cap is 100, that means the contractor is getting (at most) $70/hr. Companies either need to up their rate, or cut out the middle man completely. The vast majority of recruiters I encounter today have a premium LinkedIn account and just spam everyone that matches keywords. Are you telling me a company couldn't have an intern do that kind of thing for a lot less than the recruiters are getting?