Perry,

1) People who can't find work in VFP move on. It's simple. One day there will be nobody left. Nobody here needs an interpreter to understand that (not even an interpreter who speaks 5 languages! ;-)

2) According to the latest survey, the average time for an IT person with the same employer is 8.4 years. The fact is that really good developers may not be interested in applying for jobs. They find something they like and remain there till they get poached. You'll never see or hear about these people, their employers make sure of that.

3) You don't have any better idea about the future than anybody else. Everything that is said here is based on continuation of the PC and of development as we know it. Neither is certain. This creates risk for anybody who works in IT. The only way to avoid this risk is to move out of IT completely. The Internet has made this easier- markets are internationalized and services like Scrap Booking or Antiques can be extremely lucrative. I know a successful CFO who "retired" in his 40's and now hand-makes oars for rowing regattas in the UK. He earns just as much $ and will probably live years longer by doing a labor of love and avoiding all the worry and stress that increasingly pervades IT.