Melbourne is a positive outlier and not at all representative of the rest of Australia. Finding senior devs in Brisbane is an insanely arduous process and its not uncommon to see positions take 6+ months to fill (at least at the places I've worked at). Even when companies start throwing money around like crazy, the talent just isn't there.

I've heard that Sydney isn't so great either. Once devs hit seniority they run along to join a hip Melbournian startup, get gobbled up by Atlassian, or just migrate to Silicon Valley.

So what's the salary you're offering for this unfillable position, and what's the average price of a home there?

When you say you had a pretty good look at the market what do you mean?

I mean I helped someone look for a new role and got to see the major local players and the talent pool they're hiring from (if they hire at all, lots of places seem to advertise but are in no hurry to actually hire anyone.)

There are plenty of fish in the sea, at least around here. All you have do is go to a meetup group or two to see that.

How did you see the talent pool they are hiring from if you were helping someone look for a job and not helping someone hire for a job?

Did you ask companies to see their applicant lists and CVs or something?

Any of the meetups I've been to in Australia are mostly employed people(half only there to try and find other devs), recruiters and uni students or recent grads. Which meetups did you go to it would likely be worth adding them to my list for next time I'm in Melbourne.

I think he's implying that there should be more poaching... Personally I find it a strange concept which seems confined to sales and tech jobs (especially in America)