| My Dad started at 20k after graduation in the early 80's. He hit 100k by 1990. Took a 50% pay cut to work at a startup. When they down-sized he went back to higher pay and hit nearly 300k by 1999. A few months after Sept. 11th he got laid off and has only worked 2 years out of the past 6 at half his old pay. Lost everything in the dot-com bust. Currently unemployed for the last year, most offers are around 60k. The high paying years took a toll on our family with his 100% travel around the country. Our savings exhausted, now we are unable to afford even the most trivial expenses and are deeply in debt. What to conclude? Economic changes, an oversupply of H1B immigrants cutting wages to entry level rates, incompetent managers, corrupt business practices... all are factors. Be careful. |