[jimnotgym]

> I do see a lot more intellectual rigor in the older techies than in the ones from my generation

I have a theory on this. An architect in private practice told me a couple of years ago how he was having trouble getting good junior architects, so was resorting to graduates. He felt his small practice was not the best place for a rigourous training. He recounted that in the past there was a giant pool of qualified and experienced staff coming from the councils, railways and public utilities. There was also a similar pool of state supported industry, Rolls Royce, BA etc. These positions took graduates (or even apprentices) and trained them up. These were also jobs for life with opportunity for progression and final salary pensions attached. Most of these have been squeezed out by 30 years of privatisation and The Cuts post 2008.

I personally worked at a company that had grown out of a government research agency some years before. The majority of employees were from that original batch of junior engineers transferring over, even filling roles like HR, Health and Safety, purchasing etc. I don't see how this could happen today.

I feel like in lusting after what Silicon Valley has, we have undone what we had with nothing to replace it.