Its funny how the world changes. When I started in IT it was an obscure and slightly odd thing to do. Over the years it became the thing to do and loads of people with no real aptitude for it signed up and worked for the various consultancies or as contractors. The vast majority of these IT workers where average at best and now as the western world looks to India, Eastern Europe and China for its IT skills they are all complaining. Much as the manufacturing industry complained in the '70's. This of course is true capitalism - survival of the fittest in the market place. We in the west can sit and moan about how all our jobs are going to other countries or we can evolve and do the next thing. What I don't understand is all those people demanding protection from this. Laws that force UK (or US) companies to use expensive, average staff instead of cheap highly skilled staff. How can they expect companies to compete with those in other countries that are not forced to protect local jobs. Its the same kind of thinking that seems to be driving the Scottish fishing industry to fish every single last fish out of the seas around Scotland leaving them a barren wasteland. Now you might think I am being a little harsh. After all this is people's livelihoods we are talking about. This country has seen the decline of many many industries in even my life time. We no longer make cars or ships or televisions or, well, anything much. We no longer have a coal industry and farming is teetering on the brink and our film industry has died yet another death. Yet employment is high and the economy seems to be doing pretty well. You've got to adapt, learn new skills, evolve with the times and make the most of the opportunities. And if you aren't doing that - what are you contributing anyway?
Perhaps I should stop reading the Names faces places newsletter.
My last entry garnered a good comment and a link to an excellent article which I thought I would repost lest it be lost. This is a very good read.
You have a very good point in your second sentence, and it is still somewhat happening today. At my high school, there is a big emphasis on computers. There are a alot of comp. related classes, and even IT classes... (im could be A+ certified as a 10th grader and cisco certified as a 11th grader!), but i have realized that alot of the people that take these classes are not very computer savvy. All they have is the knowledge that they have been certified in some computer area or another. I was talking to one such student, and he didnt even understand what i was talking about! (I was rambling about apache, different raid setups, and trying to explain how udf is different from tcp-ip) It made me wonder about their future, which seems to be in part based on an idea of becoming an IT proffesional. Also, you picked a good name for your child ;)
Posted by: Gabriel Lee Williamson at August 8, 2004 11:25 PMHeyup - it still IS a slightly odd thing to do, you know. It's just that the rest of us know that the pay's quite good, so allow it good-humouredly, from an envious, capitalist standpoint.
Posted by: Rick at August 11, 2004 10:53 PM