Opinion from Frank Hayes writing in ComputerWorld:

http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/story/0,10801,89140,00.htm
l
or
http://tinyurl.com/3bghl

JANUARY 19, 2004 ( COMPUTERWORLD ) - If you had any doubts about the effects
of offshoring on IT pay, you can stop doubting. According to a January
report from Foote Partners, the bonuses that programmers once received for
specialized knowledge are evaporating -- off 25% over the past two years and
still sinking. Yes, things are tough all over, but the numbers for
application development are much worse than the average for IT
specialties -- and the app dev falloff coincides with the uptick in offshore
outsourcing of many software projects. For programmers, it's starting to
look like the end for big paydays -- and maybe for any paydays at all.
...
It's a matter of supply and demand. There are lots of programmers out
there -- and with offshoring, "out there" gets bigger every day. With that
much supply, programming skills can't command the extra money they once did.
They're a commodity, and they're likely to keep getting cheaper.

If you're a programmer, that should make you worried.

If you're an IT manager, you should be worried, too. On the one hand, you
can't afford to keep a lot of expensive commodity programmers on staff. On
the other, some of those programmers know your systems -- and your
business -- intimately. And that knowledge can make a huge difference in the
business value your IT shop can deliver. It's an asset you can ill afford to
lose.
...
You can't afford programmers who are just good at writing code. What you
want your programmers to do is to understand your business processes -- and
how to use software to automate, streamline and even revolutionize those
processes.

Nothing commodity about that, is there? It's specific to your business
organization, and it's right in line with the IT department's core value
proposition of using technology to help the business run better. It's the
high-value part of programming.

You can afford to keep programmers like that. In fact, you can't afford not
to keep them.
...

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