Spare a thought for the programmers that are attempting to crack the problem of Y2K compliance with the December 31 deadline drawing ever closer. They may be making megabucks, but the cruel paradox of their lives is that they are much too busy changing the dates in programs from two to four digits to fix up the kind of dates that could bring them personal happiness.
According to research by a UK-based dating agency, 60% of people involved in compliance work felt they had little free time. Those not already involved in relationships said it was very difficult to find the time to meet like-minded people. The problem is made worse by the skills shortage that means existing programmers are constantly moving round the country on different projects.
Club Sirius, the agency involved, boasts that lonely IT staff are solving the problem by using its web site. In this way, they hope to avoid the nightmare prospect of still being single as a new millennium dawns. What is certain is that there is likely to be so much work sorting on Y2K catastrophes from January 1 onwards, that any programmer without a partner then will find it even more difficult to find the time to get a date in the year 2000.
