Where have all the good jobs gone?
Bill Ferguson Knight Ridder May 14, 2004 Twenty years ago I was 17 years old and puzzling over what kind of career I wanted to have. High on my list of priorities was finding a job in a field that offered high salaries and good prospects for long-term employment growth. So even though I always got better grades in English class than in math and science, I decided to pursue a technical degree. I was quite the misfit in the engineering department at college, having scored higher on the verbal section of the SAT than the math section. But the prospect of a good-paying job in a field with unlimited growth potential called to me like a siren song, and I labored on for four years (OK maybe it was a little more than four) and eventually emerged with a degree in computer science. Even though I graduated in the midst of the late 80s recession, I found a job within a few weeks of receiving my diploma. For the next 20 years the high-tech industry was good to me, and I slept well at night secure i
