It is easy enough to demonstrate that the "shortage" is a hoax: look at what people are actually being paid.
There are some stories about COBOL programmers with six-figure salaries but I have never met one or known anyone who has met one.
A data point -- the COBOL programmers I know make in the upper 30s and low 40s. They have more than four years of experience (each) writing financial software so they have practical experience as well.
Another data point -- I know a female COBOL programmer with twenty years of experience who was "downsized" and has had trouble finding a new job. Why?
On the other hand, I know of manager-types who couldn't code their way out of a paper bag who get six figures for playing solitaire.
Look at something else: if there is a surplus of lawyers and shortage of programmers, why do lawyers get paid so much more? (HINT: ABA)
People like to delude themselves and think that the world is "civilized" and "fair". It is not. At a company of any size, your boss is not your collegue, he is your opponent. His interests and yours are diametrically opposed.
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It is easy enough to demonstrate that the "shortage" is a hoax: look at what people are actually being paid.
There are some stories about COBOL programmers with six-figure salaries but I have never met one or known anyone who has met one.
A data point -- the COBOL programmers I know make in the upper 30s and low 40s. They have more than four years of experience (each) writing financial software so they have practical experience as well.
Another data point -- I know a female COBOL programmer with twenty years of experience who was "downsized" and has had trouble finding a new job. Why?
On the other hand, I know of manager-types who couldn't code their way out of a paper bag who get six figures for playing solitaire.
Look at something else: if there is a surplus of lawyers and shortage of programmers, why do lawyers get paid so much more? (HINT: ABA)
People like to delude themselves and think that the world is "civilized" and "fair". It is not. At a company of any size, your boss is not your collegue, he is your opponent. His interests and yours are diametrically opposed.