[jackhack]

Correct. And it's been this way for a long, long time.

Back in the early 1990s, I recall browsing the "open positions" list, posted in the cafeteria at work and being shocked at the variance in starting salaries: Windows (3.0) Programming positions (C & Visual Basic) requiring no more than a high school education were offered at $70,000. Positions for PhD Chemists began at $35,000 and demanded a long list of accomplishments not limited to publications in major journals. "listed as primary inventor on one or more patents, a plus!"

So in summary, one trade could be learnt by a motivated self-directed student in the span of a summer, for no more cost than a short stack of books. The other required at least 6 years of advanced education and likely $50,000+ of debt -- a serious investment not only in time and money but also opportunity cost, as those 6 years are NOT being spent earning. Yet the former paid twice the latter. (And may still, for all I know.)

Obviously, this was a lead-up to the great wave of offshoring efforts. Executives must have noticed this variance as well.