>I think we should consider developer Morale when it comes to legacy systems - it’s hard to hire and a lot of people want to leave if they’re stuck with them.
Basically. Some systems/languages just don't have many people on the market with expertise in those things, and you may not be able to hire someone who does, and get them to relocate to where you are. If you try to stick someone else with that job, they're not going to want that on their resume, so they'll just look for a new job that does fit their career goals. For instance, personally, I have no desire to work on VB.NET code at all, so if my company suddenly decided to make me a full-time VB.NET developer (including training etc.), and wouldn't take no for an answer, I'd immediately look for a new job. Having VB.NET on my resume isn't much better than having a job gap.
Basically. Some systems/languages just don't have many people on the market with expertise in those things, and you may not be able to hire someone who does, and get them to relocate to where you are. If you try to stick someone else with that job, they're not going to want that on their resume, so they'll just look for a new job that does fit their career goals. For instance, personally, I have no desire to work on VB.NET code at all, so if my company suddenly decided to make me a full-time VB.NET developer (including training etc.), and wouldn't take no for an answer, I'd immediately look for a new job. Having VB.NET on my resume isn't much better than having a job gap.