Where Have All The Contracts Gone...

The most popular theories as to the reason behind the dearth of AS/400 
contracts are:

1. Everyone blew their 1999 budget due to Y2K, and so won't be doing any major 
development until 2001.

2. All the underqualified people who became contractors in 1999 (to grab a 
piece of the Y2K action) are trying to remain contractors, causing a glut in 
the market.

3. With the web coming on strong, companies are unsure of the AS/400's position 
in their IT strategy.

4. RPG is dead, Jim.

The real answer is probably "all of the above", to varying degrees.  Not a good 
feeling.

It's not to the point where RPG programmers are hanging out in the parking lots 
of CompUSA, jumping in the back of pickup trucks of IT managers who need them 
to help clean up a database for a few hours - but might not be far away, folks.

Bob Lancaster