There seems to be more middle-management than IT workers. They also think that they can hire inexperienced workers just out of college to replace seasoned veterans with at least 10 years of experience.

The newbie IT workers are incompetent mostly, and will end up costing the companies more money to train or fix their foul-ups. Mostly the technology specialists and help desk workers are going to screw up, the programmers are also next. But I shudder to think what newbie Network Administrator and newbie DBAs are going to do. If they are contractors, they are being whored out at $60USD/hr or more by the contracting companies. It seems that there is not a shortage of qualified IT workers, just that the companies don't want to pay the qualified workers what they are worth, so they go and hire unqualified college kids, or the H1B Visa workers that are qualified (or not?) to fill those jobs. The move to Contractors and H1B Visa workers is just the latest thing for the average PHB to consider.