It is not only about memory safety. C community is aging fast and young developers choose different languages. We started to rewrite all C and C++ code in my team because it is really hard to find people willing to maintain it. From my experience typical C or C++ programer is around 40 and not willing to switch jobs.
Inviting rank amateurs to established projects while expecting them to operate as free labor in the hopes of future relevance for employment has a distinctly different feel. Missives like the OP feel like preying on a desperate and young generation when paired with the commentary.
If all the entry-level jobs are C or C++, do you think companies would have a hard time filling them? Would the unemployed new graduates really shun gainful employment if Rust wasn't part of the equation?
Meanwhile, hiring managers left and right are reporting that within hours of a job being posted, they are flooded with hundreds of applications. And you can't find a single person because of the programming language of your stack? And to remedy this, you're going to rewrite your stack in an unproven language? Have you considered that if you can't find anyone that it might not be a programming language or tech stack problem?
My experience in working in C++ was that the salary wasn’t as good as what I could get elsewhere. That was a big part of why I left, I didn’t hate the job.
Wow, I've never considered this aspect of it but you're right. If you want widespread access to incoming developers that can contribute to your project, that really does mean Rust by default at this point if you want a low level language regardless of what you prefer.
A pity the banks didn't do that with COBOL....
They did, Java and .NET.
Is the pay good at your job? Rust jobs are few and far between, so I think Rustafarians are willing to take lower pay to work in their dream language. Companies will of course abuse this.