On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 4:59 AM, <storkus@storkus.com> wrote:

That's a good point, Tony, but one of those articles quoted directly
from the Dept. of Labor (the one with the stats), so it's not just the
usual media love of blowing things out of proportion. I completely
agree with you on the Valley, though--when I went back home to Reno a
couple of weeks ago, I discovered the economic downturn has hit much
harder there than it has here, so we're very lucky down here, IT or not.

Mike

My personal experience and what I see on job boards indicates that demand for programmers remains strong. Now I'm more focused on windows development because that's what I do, but I also watch non-windows ads because I'd like to get away from windows eventually.

Lately I've seen job postings for MySQL admins, which is something I haven't seen in a while or maybe not ever. Usually, its for a PHP dev or Linux admin position. I'm inclined to think that demand is strong enough to warrant a dedicated MySQL position.

I watch both local job boards and some for areas like L.A. Also, I should note that I'm pay attention to senior level positions because that fits me better. Although, I also look at mid-level postings for non-windows gigs.

good luck
-j