Network World has published their 2007 IT salary survey and revealed that most of us aren't really happy with what we are making on the job these days.

I am a bit curious as to whether or not this is really news at all-after all, it seems that people generally think they should be making more than they are, regardless of position or industry-but even more curious as to the justifications people are giving themselves for their dissatisfaction. Presumably the market drives the rates, and if, as the article and other recent information indicate, the companies are actively hiring in IT right now, then they are obviously having to pay what it is worth to them to fill the positions. Candidates who don't like the rates should be able to do better if they are in fact in demand.

But the real question to me is, considering all the fear and turmoil generated by off-shore outsourcing trends over the past few years, why is it that now all these people who thought they were going to lose their jobs entirely suddenly think they are worth more? If you had to choose between being un-employed entirely and taking a pay-cut, what would you choose? Apparently, this isn't a significant fear for many IT workers today. But I am not sure why-the availability of off-shore talent is still available and even growing, and other industry trends such as SaaS and SOA promise to increase the overall efficiency of the business such that the overall requirement for skilled technical staff will probably be decreasing at some point in the near future.

Am I reading the tea leaves wrong, or is this just a case of wishful thinking in the industry, a la the American manufacturing industry unions, who have so consistently felt they were under-compensated that they managed to drive most of their work overseas in the last few decades?