"this economy" (was Re: [geeks] Ultra 2)

[alex j avriette]

> They are using it as an excuse to get rid of higher paid people as well 
> as
> really low grade entry level people and the generally useless middle
> management structure. That I can accept.

Seen this. We have a joke at work: "too many chiefs, not enough 
indians." The ratio is 2:1 employees to managers. And they tell us we're 
overbudget. Feh.

> What I can't accept is that they're also using it as an excuse to really
> lowball some very good people out there. Recruiters are being pushed out

Yeah. The market ain't so bad, but the "new" salary ranges ("new" 
meaning post-dot-com) are pretty icky.

> Just as an example, I've been seeing senior UNIX or full system+network
> admin positoions with requested 5+ years experience with a salary on 
> offer
> of 35k. I made more than that in my first junior admin job. That's the
> salary I'd expect to see a small city offer a mid level admin, not a 
> good
> sized company offer a senior one.

You mean dollars-per-hour, not thousand-dollars-per-year, right? You 
must. There are people managing Burger King and Tower Records for $37k.

alex