The "computer geeks" aren't making nearly as much as they used to. With the crash of the dot-coms, many non-dot-com businesses are cutting back their IT (Information Tech) budgets. That means that even at these businesses, geeks are being laid off or forced to take pay cuts. Those who haven't are usually in constant fear for their jobs.
It's also a hundred times harder to find a decent computer geek job than it was even 2 years ago. Again, the dot-com crash put many geeks out of work, and more were pink-slipped as other companies cut back on payrolls. Since there are many out-of-work IT people (geeks) out there now, the geek who does manage to get a new job usually gets paid a LOT less that a few years back. It's an employer's market in IT these days, and will probably remain an employer's market for some years to come.
It is the rare geek who can still command a premium wage, and that geek usually has premium skills to offer (or premium connections..). There is little future for those geeks not already in that exalted position.
That's why I, a computer geek, am changing professions and am enrolling in an electrician apprenticeship come this April. The electrical field to me seems to be more stable, more essential, and more lucrative than IT. Plus it still has geeky elements of playing with doodads and having knowledge that most non-geeks don't have and don't want to have.
MacWire
