For computer scientists and engineers, the 1990's were close to paradise -- until the technology boom collapsed. But even as business has started to pick up again, the job market they operate in has become the toughest ever. While this group represents a comparatively affluent sliver of the American work force, it illustrates the broader forces -- higher productivity, cost-cutting business practices and increased global competition -- that have combined to make job growth throughout the American economy so frustratingly sluggish. | 
