[The Duke]

There are *definately* two sides to this issue. I can recall during the tech boom having a tekkie quote me $90/hr (with attitude) to do simple networking work - which was certainly an exhibition of as much "greed" as we now attribute the those companies which are offshoring.

Today that same tekkie works for me as an employee for far less money, but still significantly more than some of the offshore programmers I use - and yet I'm looking for the first opportunity to give him a raise because, due to cultural factors, he's extremely productive compared to his foreigh counterparts.

There are two sides to this coin, and if there's anything at all to be miffed about it's that technology was touted by the government as being the mecca for employment for the fifteen years learing up to the bust.

[FastCoyote]

"There are *definately* two sides to this issue. I can recall during the tech boom having a tekkie quote me $90/hr (with attitude) to do simple networking work - which was certainly an exhibition of as much "greed" as we now attribute the those companies which are offshoring. "

If you are consulting, you have to charge that much to cover (Tech Books, Tech Courses, travel time, medical, people who don't pay, taxes, accounting and bookeeping time, billing, etc.). Don't pay your conmsultants enough and they will quit, like I'm doing. Then you have to hire them full time, complete with coffee breaks, lunch time, education sabbatical time, etc.

[StatesEnemy]

There are *definately* two sides to this issue. I can recall during the tech boom having a tekkie quote me $90/hr

Ohh sure... Private Contracting.... but the flip side is that most of my IT career I schlepped for a Fortune 1000 at about $35/hr that they billed for $125.

Even 'internally' which was it's own sorta slushfund/tax-writeoff.

Idealism is for dummys. And pure unbridled capitalism is as corrupt and anti-human as anything that Communism, Feudalism, or Nepotism ever dreamed up.

But managed through pragmatic means, it is our only hope.