There are still options but pay is lower and consider any job you get to be temporary.
Have to agree with Driftdiver. Stable jobs are hard to come by. Also depends on what systems/languages you know. If you are doing hardware/networking, there always seems to me medium level jobs available anywhere. If you're doing system specific languages/development, you need to carefully assess your local market and the demand for said language.
SQL is almost universal. A higher level understanding of it can be translated into use upon most systems, although some are less capable (have less up-to-date functionality). Check your local ads for the languages they're looking for. Go to the user meetings in the area and check them out. Make contacts, and talk to people and listen to the people in the industry, what they're doing, and if they're happy or not.
Heck, the local user groups may be the best place to start. You can see yourself and how you'll be a little while down the road and decide if that's the destination you want.
Good luck!
Better yet, volunteer to give a presentation at a User Group. You'll be amazed at how many people will start contacting you and begging you to come work for them.