America’s sizzling job market: From Bloomberg

“The sizzling US labor market is good news for American workers and President Joe Biden, whose message on the nation’s booming economy may be starting to get through. It’s a bittersweet state of affairs though for those on Wall Street hoping for the Federal Reserve to start dropping interest rates soon. The January jobs report blew estimates out of the water and appears to affirm (yet again) the wrongheadedness of almost two years of recession predictions. The Fed is still pursuing its soft landing in the fight against inflation while the US has added thousands of jobs and broken with the pre-pandemic trend of weak wage growth. In the US version of post-Covid recovery, employers have been able to hire at a steady clip, allowing for business growth, while wages continue to outpace inflation, boosting workers’ spending power even in the face of rising prices.”

Based on this article alone, you’d think that we’d all have 2 to 3 job offers trying to lure us away from our current employer. However, during our Quality Jam event in January, two themes dominated the discussion. One was an amazing desire to learn that we saw in many of our participants. The other, more unsettling discovery was that several folks were looking for new opportunities, and had been doing so for a longer time than they wanted to. Additionally, we found that some of our younger participants who had majored in computer science - usually a fast track to a great job - were having trouble finding suitable employment. The tech sector labor market is not as “sizzling” as Bloomberg would have us believe.

Since jobs, and the lack thereof, seem to be a hot topic in 2024, PNSQC is stepping up to help our members and friends with the daunting task of finding that next great gig or, if you’re new to the tech industry, your first great gig!

To help our community get on the right track to new employment, our next two normal meetup events have been tailored to assist job seekers on the hunt. Additionally, we are planning to add a special track to the conference this Fall. Since our virtual track is only one day, we are going to use that time on the second day to offer a series of talks aimed at “Newbies”. Folks of all ages who are looking to leap into the tech industry will find sessions on polishing your resume, interviewing skills, and even basic QA tips and tricks. Information that will improve your Quality chops and hopefully help you take that next step into technology. Register for our February and March events to get a jump start on 2024 whether you're looking for a new gig or just want to learn more about the latest in software quality tools, technologies, and methods.

February Event

This event will be our first Job Fair event. We're going to have a couple of speakers present on what makes a good interview, how to look for a position, and whether your title accurately reflects your role.

This will be a hybrid meetup - both in-person and online held at:

McMenamins Broadway Pub

1504 NE Broadway St Ste 900

Portland, OR 97232

March Event

This month instead of having a meetup, PNSQC is going to host our first-ever Open Space event. Open Space Technology (OST) is a group facilitation approach for small and large gatherings in which a central purpose, issue, or task is addressed, but which begins with a purposeful lack of any formal initial agenda. The theme of the event is "The Future is Now: Where's My Quality Jet Pack?" Additionally, topics may include offshoots from the Job Fair where you bring hot areas in QA that you need to learn more about to get a job.

We invite software developers, testers, business analysts, consultants, and executives to come participate in the event where we discuss the current state of Quality in Software and where it succeeds, fails, and where it will lead.

Please check back here for more information on the event as it evolves.