That kind of makes sense, but doesn't. I'm aware of the fact of the bi-modal / tri-modal distribution of the software dev. salaries. However, in the case of my friend, software is not the only option for him. My friend refuses to get lower paying software eng. position ... because he can make the same lower money by doing the thing he likes, in his case - working as a luthier. Another friend also were refusing to get lower paying software jobs and instead were working 1+ year as secretary for a wealthy person. My point is that some lower paying jobs won't be filed ever, even if there are plenty software developers without jobs. It's more wise for some people to leave field temporarily or permanently.