As far as the electrician/electronics tech thing goes, I wear both hats, so I have a bit of a different perspective here.
Traditional "electrical" equipment is getting more and more "electronic" all the time, particularly in the areas of industrial control and automation. Nowadays, an industrial electrician needs skills in PLC programming, debugging computer interfaces, networking, and solid state electronics to even begin to repair modern control systems.
While the days of making a living repairing consumer electronics are long gone, an electronics tech who specializes in industrial electronics like drives and process controls can make a good living, particularly if they ALSO have traditional electrical trade skills like running conduit and pulling wire. If you can pick up a basic familiarity with stuff like hydraulics, pneumatics, and the like, and you can walk into a job anywhere there is industry.
There is a growing overlap between the various trades, and being the person who can get a facility back online after a failure will be a pretty outsource-resistant position for the forseeable future.
[This message has been edited by NJwirenut (edited 07-10-2006).]
