As a high-tech worker I wonder why on earth would anybody want to work in a county where traffic is horrible and the government refuses to properly finance the public school system. Fairfax County supposedly is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, but you sure wouldn't know it. Regarding the job situation, people with hard technical skills will always be marketable. It's the squishy types that are vulnerable. There are probably quite a few high-tech workers in Virginia wondering the same thing.
Traffic is clearly the biggest concern for many of the workers and their employers.
It's a situation that continues to be at the center of much of the political debate here. Regarding the hard technical skills, I think you are right. The folks I talked to for the story say there is still a shortage of people who have specialized skills, but the downturn in the economy means that those folks probably can't demand the kind of money, benefits, bonuses they could a year ago. I was lucky to get scooped up by another IT company. Water cooler was not really helpful.