Does it indicate over-supply? Maybe, but it's probably a bit more complicated than that. There is a very large supply of self-proclaimed Python programmers. (There's no official accreditation of this, of course, so we can only go by self-proclamation.) But this is unlike, say, raw materials supply for building a bridge. A lot---and by "a lot", I mean enough to be noticed when hiring---of the "Python programmer supply" is under-skilled. So, in reality, and limited to my own experience, the supply of skilled, knowledgeable Python programmers is much less than that of the total supply, so I'm not sure I'd label it as "over-supply".
With that said, though, and especially with huge companies like Google using Python as one of their main languages, the supply of qualified Python programmers is no doubt larger than that of Lisp. But, it's a fallacy to believe that the supply of qualified programmers correlates inversely to the time spent searching for them. It's sometimes easier to find needles that standout in the haystack.
As for software jobs in the domain of math/physics/etc., they're out there, but just harder to seek out. The world hasn't run out of hard science problems to solve, and many companies would go to great lengths to hire brilliant individuals who have both scientific acumen and programming skills.
>As for software jobs in the domain of math/physics/etc., they're out there, but just harder to seek out.
I'm well aware of that. However, my experience is the working conditions are poor. Some do have a higher salary, but everything else seemed worse.
Also, not entirely related, but it does suck more when you're working on a very challenging problem, and can't fully crack it on the company's desired schedule. You get negative feedback with veiled threats about losing your job. When you're in that situation, and realize that you can get a much easier job with similar pay, you have to ask yourself whether the risk of working a "science" job is worth the rewards.
It was all fun in grad school, where the deadlines were much looser and you're not worrying about saving for family, retirement, etc. But it really sucks if your livelihood is at stake merely because you wanted the thrill of working on a more challenging problem.
With that said, though, and especially with huge companies like Google using Python as one of their main languages, the supply of qualified Python programmers is no doubt larger than that of Lisp. But, it's a fallacy to believe that the supply of qualified programmers correlates inversely to the time spent searching for them. It's sometimes easier to find needles that standout in the haystack.
As for software jobs in the domain of math/physics/etc., they're out there, but just harder to seek out. The world hasn't run out of hard science problems to solve, and many companies would go to great lengths to hire brilliant individuals who have both scientific acumen and programming skills.