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On Tue, Nov 06, 2001 at 12:14:02AM -0700, Trent Shipley wrote:

> Are computer geeks (outside of webdom) having more unemployment troubles =
than=20
> the rest of the population?  The economy sucks for everybody.

Granted, this is true. But most of the problem here is that with the massive
layoffs, competition is incredibly brutal -- not to mention the fact that
many companies are trying to roll over ten different positions into one job
and still pay $40,000. Let me ask you this: would you be willing to only
recieve $40,000 for doing Network Engineering, Software Development,
Cable Pulling, Database Administration and Network Administration? This is
_no lie_ -- the job I'm citing is one from Lockheed Martin. It was titled a=
s a
"network administration" job which required all of the above skills, and th=
ey
were still only willing to pay out $40,000/yr!

> Maybe its just that this is the first time that computer geeks have reall=
y=20
> been in sufficient supply relative to demand that they are feeling a=20
> recession?

This is true. We are out there in massive groups, but only due to company
layoffs and job consolidation -- not from geek growth.

> Another part of it may be that the computer-geek community really rode th=
e=20
> internet bubble in the late 1990's and there are jobs but the pay has com=
e=20
> back down into the realm of sanity.  The result is that much of Geekdom n=
eeds=20
> to find salaries that sadly no longer exist.

Eh? Excuse me? Why the hostility here?
$40,000/yr is rather sane (quite a common salary in most positions) -- be it
a developer, admin, or web work position. In fact, if you own a house,
chances are $40,000 almost doesn't cut it in the AZ valley anyway. In fact,
I _know_ it doesn't cut it in San Fransisco.

> (I am pretty certain that the Pointy Haired Managers and Evil Queens of H=
R=20
> have yet to discover that bright high-school kids can be hired part time =
to=20
> do 50% of the IS/IT workload! [and next 45% can be done by the same kids=
=20
> after they have three to five years of experience]).

What about that other 5% that usually ends up being mission-critical?
Granted, high-school kids are great at what most of them do, but most of
them are still dealing with a multitude of other problems relating to
school, family and themselves to concentrate on work even on a part-time
position.

--=20
Thomas "Mondoshawan" Tate
phoenix@psy.ed.asu.edu
http://tank.dyndns.org

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