” I make a decent living in IT, but I’ve had to job hop a lot due to layoffs and outsourcing.”
Unfortunately, that is IT. It has become a really stupid industry run by idiots. It is why so many younger adults do not go into IT and there is a real shortage right now. They saw the frustrating lives of their parents who were in IT and want nothing to do with it. There are better ways to make the same money now.
Unfortunately, it’s not acting like a shortage exists. Between the questionable use of guest workers and fraudulent qualifcations, IT professions act more like they’re in a state of surplus. Spot shortages may exist, but are more the exception than the rule.
A real and market-based shortage has not existed since the late 1990’s, when qualifications didnt exclude US citizenship. Right now, we have a government-driven(through guest workers) surplus that has nothing but a *claim* to shortage.