There does seem to be a bit of a dichotomy between IT and non-IT when it comes to technical skills requirements, and I'm not sure where it stems from. My guess is HR, since they don't understand IT but know that IT people are supposed to know X or Y or Z (or all of them) and suspect since that's about all they know they use it as their only yardstick. And so many businesses change their direction so often that they end up scrambling to find people with the right skills right away and they have abandoned developing in-house talent. I thought that was cheaper than hiring new employees?

I recently read a story about a guy who has the highest rated store in an entire franchise. One of the primary attributes he looked for when hiring employees was fit or temperament, combined with aptitude. He did not hire a person just because they could hit the ground running. He said skills can be taught but the traits of wanting to learn, wanting to figure things out and helping the customer were the keys to his success. His employees stay for years and he has many happy customers. Considering it is a transmission repair business where there is a lower amount of repeat business, it is a testament that taking the long view approach and developing your talent *does* improve the bottom line even when it's not obvious as to how it will help the business.

Compare that to how most businesses operate and it becomes pretty evident how we all have gotten to this place. This topic is just one of many consequences of taking shortcuts to make some quarterly goal.