>Tom,
>
>Unfortunately, I don't think we are talking about perception here, it's reality. It has nothing to do with someone deciding not to pay someone their previous rate. It has to do with the reality of a much larger population trying to get a piece of the available consulting pie.
>
>Unemployeed technical folks are not getting the volume of calls they were receiving 2-3 years ago. Or even 5 yrs ago. I know of recruiting firms that are laying off folks too.
>
>It's just a numbers game being played, with the people who control the money knowing that there are a lot of folks vying for that money now.
>
>PF
>
>
>>In general, we are being told this a nation wide event that involves all software developers. The perception since the .COM crash is that software developers and in fact all IT professionals should not be paid as much as they were.

Perry;

I respect your observation but please read the following.
We could argue semantics but I think perception is very important. There are people that listen and watch the media. One recent report stated here in the San Francisco Bay Area: “100,000 .COM’ers have been laid off in the bay area since April 17, 2000. The stock market goes down – high tech is in the toilet – and so on. Perception soon becomes reality. So what if 100,000 greedy SOB’s lost his/her .COM in the Bay Area? Some guy in Maine that is in IT suffers – if you get my point. Yes, I realize .COM companies are all over the nation – but most of them are in “my back yard”. There are reports of many .COM’ers in this area who are now homeless. Early last year they were making over $120,000 and working 16-20 hours 7 days a week and sleeping on the floor of their cubical. They had millions in stock – now they sleep on the street.

Those persons that control the money and business use perception to work to their advantage. If the public is fed a specific line – it becomes the norm. .COM is a bomb so all of IT suffers.

Here is a line from the media. One day the stock market went down and the reason given was – the price of gold increased. The next day the stock market went down some more. The reason was – the price of gold decreased. Hard to figure but we are led by the nose to believe whatever the media expresses. After all – they are the experts!

Another term that comes to mind besides perception is rationalization.
But my favorite term in this case is GREED! Not the poor guy or girl trying to make ends meet but the people that control the media and industry are the ones that control the economy.

You will have to forgive me as I took semantics from S.I Hiakawa and appreciate the meaning of words. I am not saying you do not share the same appreciation that I do – but our viewpoints may be different on this topic for any number of reasons. Having a short conversation on the Internet does not allow another person’s knowledge or view point to be fully understood or expressed. Sometimes “one word” is the central focus when in fact it is the concept that is important.

By the way another “perception” if I may. I have been driving home along a specific path for over a year. During the beginning of last year while going past the Santa Clara Convention Center, it seems there was a Job Fair almost every day. About 80% of these were jobs for .COM companies according to the newspapers. Biplanes had advertisement banners they pulled behind them directing you to the Job Fair. Trucks with advertisements drove up and down the street doing the same thing. Well, need I say “that ain’t no more”!

One day during the beginning of April of last year I even stopped in to see what was being offered. There were 1060 companies asking for Java/Unix skills. Two companies had Microsoft jobs advertised – one NT 4.0 and one Visual Basic. Interesting! At one booth two middle-aged guys were standing there. Above them was a piece of “butcher paper” with writing from perhaps a marking pen. “Create your Own Job”! I asked them what they were doing – no business cards – just a company name. They had just gotten venture capital to start a .COM company. No business plan – no product. Sick!

Why do we have a problem in the IT world? I think I could write a book! It may be a long time before our industry settles down and finds its “reality”.

Tom