I think "both sides" are having difficulty make things work here.  I work at Generic Japanese Megacorp, which could easily be Generic American Megacorp except with rather less white people.  My day job expects me to have a 4 year degree in a rigorous field of study, be expert at our problem domains, be proficient to expert in a list of technologies which I quite literally cannot fit on a single page in 8 pt font, and have unlimited tolerance for overtime.  In return, I'm paid about what an English teacher makes.  Why can't my employer find more geeks like me?  Hmm, that's a tough one.<p>Then there's the other side of the fence: some of my friends  use Ubuntu on their laptops, are really good with the Internet, and can quote every episode of the Simpsons ever.  Quite a few are stuck in jobs like software testing.  Why can't they find jobs paying $80,000 which require none of the commercial skills they have assiduously avoided learning?  Hmm, tough one.