Re: Shortage ? Or Efficient Markets ?

[iguanodon]

Do you get a lot of cold calls for Perl positions ?

I've never gotten a cold call for a Perl position, but I've gotten cold calls from headhunters looking for skills that I have no clue about. IME they don't put much effort into matching candidates with the skills required for a position. I'm sure some are better than others but I think many are just phfishing, hoping to hook a body they can use to fill a position.

So, given a choice between a Perl job, and a Java job paying 30-50% more, the candidate will usually take the Java job.

Yeah, I fall into that category, I sold out :). But I'm careful to not take a job working for someone who is anti-Perl. Where I work now, the corporate standard is the typical Java/J2EE but whenever I need to do something that doesn't need to run in that environment I still reach for Perl.

I'd prefer that the balance were different but I think there is more to consider than just the primary language. A good boss, good coworkers, good commute, etc. can make the Java pill easier to swallow.