They know there are plenty of people out there to take your place.

It is truly unfortunate that employers take this view (and they do), because it simply isn't correct. Well not in the case of someone like Bitt anyway (unless I am completly underestimating his level of talent). The truth is that while there are a ton of people out there with the qualifications to do the work, there aren't a lot of people out there who are going to be as good at it. I am truly suprised how many programmers my company has hired that looked good on paper and have basically been useless to do real tasks. I once heard someone say that only 10% of any profession is any good at what they do. This may not quite be true, but the idea is. Turnover is very expensive for companies, so a smart company who finds a employee who knows what he or she is doing should do everything possible to hold on to that person. Unfortunatly it doesn't work out that way, which is very sad, both for the company and the talented, underpaid employee.

I'm not disagreeing with you, Laura. You are entirely correct, and it is a great thing to have a job in this market. I just get frustrated when a company doesn't pay what they should for an employee. It isn't good for the employee, and ultimatly it isn't good for the company either. Right nows probably not the best time to bail, but I'm certain Bitt will keep his options open and keep looking, and sooner or later he's bound to find something more worthwile than what he's doing.

Ok, rant's over.