This is a lively and useful debate. I do not intend to cover this same ground. Rather, I would like to address the subject from the point of view of market opportunities. To start, however, it is worthwhile to note that surveyors and GIS professionals are not alike. They approach the idea of geospatial data with different mindsets.
Surveyors come from a common educational background.
They share a legacy dating back many hundreds of years. They are emotional about pedigree. For the surveyor, position is everything. GIS professionals, on the other hand, come from a variety of different educational backgrounds and disciplines. They are content with submeter accuracy and almost indifferent to pedigree.