Just maybe....
..... it would be more productive to hang on to some of the coders we already have?
Where is the sense in allowing rampant offshoring twinned with widespread ageism to decimate the experienced coders? If little Timmy[1] sees his coder dad[2] forever struggling to maintain employment due to the above, yet sees them spending their little free time they have hitting the books/blogs to stay current, where then is little Timmy's incentive to enter the industry? Why not just do a law degree like everyone else, or worse still, an MBA?
If the government would refrain from being seen to be destroying the very industry they claim to seek extra skills in, those of us in that industry wouldn't regard the future as so uncertain, and might just encourage our progeny to follow us into the profession, rather than recommending they do anything but this.
I've not struggled for work, nor yet been a victim of ageism (of which I'm aware), but I do see a relative lack of programmers older than me, and those that I know well complain of ageism as the biggest risk they face. Instead they move over to become BAs or some toher non-coding related work.
[1][2] - Timmy/Theresa, his/her, mam/dad.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
