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Another problem...wages have dropped. So some refuse jobs thinking that they’re being “low-balled” by the employer, when the truth is, the job that paid $50,000 a couple years ago, probably pays $40,000 (to a new employee) in today’s economy.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a very strong, accurate answer in this statement!

And it isn't just a "low-balling" issue; to many it is a quality of life issue! Let me explain. When the dot-com bubble burst, I know many programmers and engineers who simply did not have the college degree to go with their skill sets. At that time, companies started ditching "skills" for sheep-skins (because a newly hired college graduate was a cost-savings when compared to an engineer with eight years seniority)! As such, many of these very smart, knowledgeable persons were making $100K a year - without degrees - but their lifestyle was more like $250K a year (hey "living large" was HUGE back then)! As such, many of them simply refused to find a job paying less than $90-100K!

Their quality of life simply did not let them see the forest for the trees. As such, I know of five personal friends who lost EVERYTHING due to their refusal to simply scale back and get back to the basics in their lives! I see this happening right now! I know people who are praying for (and expecting) a "main street" stimulus, instead of finding a job or two to hold you over until the economy pulls out of this stall which Captain Obama refuses to acknowledge!

Well it depends on your skill set. I took a demotion at work to actual create and write code again. Taught myself UML, C#, T-SQL. I begged to get on this new project at work. 3 years later, I am seasoned and know my stuff and very marketable. My goal in mid 40’s is MY OWN business, I have a consulting biz on the side and just signed my first 100 hour contract at 100 per hour. I also have gotten damn good at Internet Marketing and SEO and make about $1200 a month in passive income from about 12 websites which I run. The future is not about punching a clock but maybe having 2-3 par-time well paying gigs which can put food on the table. I give myself 24 months and I am cutting the cord forever.

Our company has a policy in which we don't hire recent college grads and that means basically if you are less than 4 years out of school, don't bother. For every Jeff Zuckerberg you have 10,000 cubicle jockeys who simply want to get to 5pm and start their alcohol fueled rutting rituals. I think we are like that John Grisham novel The Firm now, you have to be married, stable and not wear a faux hawk or have multiple visible tatoos.