It appears that many prominent researchers in academia are experiencing major butt hurt because no one wants to be a postdoc anymore.
Let's see, low pay, long hours, no job security, and in the past few decades little prospect of a tenure track position. I wonder why people do not want to do this any more.
They miss their slaves, to which I say, so did Jefferson Davis, go f%$# yourself:
Peter Coveney, a chemist and computational scientist at University College London, is ready to hire a postdoctoral researcher with experience in high-level computing. The problem: he’s struggling to attract a single qualified applicant. Earlier this year, he had to re-advertise for the position after two previous rounds of recruiting failed to produce any qualified candidates. He’s worried that if he can’t bring in someone soon, projects will be left undone and his long personal history of grants and publications could see a slowdown. “I’m extremely concerned about the long run,” he says. “At the moment I’m not running on empty, but I might be before long.”
Madeline Lancaster, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, UK, can relate to that. In July, she received a total of 36 applications for a postdoctoral position in her laboratory, many fewer than the couple of hundred that she originally expected. “I had been nervous that I wouldn’t be able to go through all of the applications,” she says. Those 36 didn’t lead to a single appointment. “I still have not filled the position,” she says. “There seems to be lots of competition for strong candidates.”………
The reasons behind the shortage are complex: politics, economics and shifting career priorities for new PhD holders all play a part. “There are a lot of things in the current state of the world that are amplifying the problem,” say Alisa Wolberg, a haematology researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wolberg co-authored an opinion piece that addressed the “perfect storm” behind the postdoc shortage in an April issue of The Hematologist, the official members’ newsletter of the American Society of Hematology. Whatever the causes, the consequences are widespread. PIs [principal investigators] are having to change their approach to recruiting postdocs, and to rethink their expectations for their teams as postdocs worldwide are re-assessing their value and their futures.
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The growing competition for postdocs hasn’t necessarily made them feel more wanted, says Jonny Coates, an immunology postdoc at Queen Mary University of London and the founder of UK & EU Pdoc Slack, an online community of several hundred postdoctoral researchers. In his view, many postdocs and PhD students want to leave academia precisely because they feel unappreciated. “It’s the way we’re treated by PIs, by senior management and by academia in general,” he says. “People don’t feel valued by anyone in the system.” For his part, Coates says that he’d like to fulfil the remainder of his postdoctoral contract but that he’s looking out for other options.
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A Nature survey of more than 7,600 postdoctoral researchers around the world uncovered widespread anxiety and uncertainly about their job paths. Half of the respondents said their satisfaction in their position had worsened in the previous year, and 56% had a negative view on their career outlook. Less than half would recommend a scientific career to their younger self. One-quarter (24%) of respondents said they had experienced discrimination or harassment during their current stint as a postdoc.
So, low pay, long hours, general lack of respect, and abusive bosses are a feature of this position, and they wonder why they cannot recruit?
This is why you have postdocs like this:
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The growing competition for postdocs hasn’t necessarily made them feel more wanted, says Jonny Coates, an immunology postdoc at Queen Mary University of London and the founder of UK & EU Pdoc Slack, an online community of several hundred postdoctoral researchers. In his view, many postdocs and PhD students want to leave academia precisely because they feel unappreciated. “It’s the way we’re treated by PIs, by senior management and by academia in general,” he says. “People don’t feel valued by anyone in the system.” For his part, Coates says that he’d like to fulfil the remainder of his postdoctoral contract but that he’s looking out for other options.
Don't worry though, they are going to MBA and HR the sh%$ out of recruiting and fix everything. (Spoiler, MBAing and HRing the sh%$ out of everything never has worked in the past)
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Coveney and Lancaster aren’t the only principal investigators (PIs) facing a postdoc crunch. Other researchers in the United Kingdom, the European Union and elsewhere have reported a sudden drop in applications from qualified applicants, a sign of a potentially drastic shift in the scientific labour market. “I don’t know anyone worldwide who currently doesn’t complain how hard it is to find postdocs,” says Florian Markowetz, a cancer researcher at the University of Cambridge.
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The evolving postdoctoral landscape has forced PIs to rethink their approach to recruitment. Markowetz’s lab website currently features an animated slideshow touting three open postdoc positions in his lab. The presentation notes that, in the past five years, five previous postdocs have gone on to PI positions and three others have created start-up companies. One slide shows a picture of Markowetz next to the words: “I want to support ambitious postdocs to reach the next level of their careers.” Speaking to Nature, Markowetz says, “It’s so hard to get postdocs. All of my friends here have the same problems. I have to be more proactive. I have to explain to people what they get if they come to me.”
So basically, Dr. Markowetz' solution is to use PowerPoint slides? Seriously?
I think I see your problem.
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