[Haskell-cafe] Re: Haskell in Industry

> Good, we need more functional programmers actually solving real > problems. But please put your skills to work in an industry other > than investment banking. I've received a lot mail on this comment; mostly positive. Here's one from someone who wishes to remain anonymous: > First of all I would like to say that I like your work regarding e.g. > Atom. Second, I would like to know what exactly is bad about a Haskell > job in investment banking as a lot of good programmers work in this > industry. It's disproportionate. 95% of the job offerings in functional programming are with investment firms. I believe investment banking is important, but does it really need to dominate a large percentage of the world's top tier programmers? Is computing the risk of derivative contracts more important than pursuing sustainable energy, new drug discovery, improving crop yields, etc. Some will argue investment banking enables all of these things -- and I'm sure many people in the industry go to work everyday feeling proud of their contributions. But I just think most of this talent is going in to improve the bottom line and little else. (Yes, I realize that's were the money is, and that's who's hiring. Actually I'm very glad. Investment banking is the first industry to adopt functional programming on a large scale. And others will follow.) -Tom