[SheepSlapper]

You hit the nail on the head. It's the programmer's responsibility to stay relevant, not some company's. But the best companies will take an active role in ensuring their programmers stay up to date (since it's in the company's best interest, too).

[thedudemabry]

I've been just dumb lucky in that the companies I've worked for have been very supportive of individual engineers’ efforts to learn new things. Whether through funding conference attendance and/or travel, or by simply giving employees time during work hours to learn on their own. But the biggest gift my past and present coworkers have given me was demonstrating that learning outside of the job is an essential component of doing great work.

It wasn't until my first few times sitting in on hiring discussions that I encountered professional engineers who didn't take an outside interest in expanding their toolset.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with them. They are fantastic folks who are very good at their chosen profession. And for the majority of professions (I only have anecdotal knowledge of this, but I would love to hear examples from other fields) that is enough to ensure stable employment. But I can't imagine the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that accompanies company layoffs and downsizing when you haven't played outside of your comfort zone in a while.

This is just a long-winded way of saying, “great summation, SheepSlapper!”