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"A T-shaped developer has one or more deep skill-sets of knowledge complemented with broad generalist knowledge across an entire solution."

The modern IT world has two pressures. To "industrialise" the work processes and to have staff with constantly maintained accreditations. What they don't want are staff with wide skills who are hard to replace.

In the 1970s it was not unusual for someone to have a generalist knowledge of many areas of computing - and a deep knowledge of at least one area.

That gradually disappeared as people found that gaining the necessary broad experience was time consuming - and their career progress and rewards were much better if they specialised. Those who had the wide grounding and interests became a rarity - tolerated as non-conformists who would save the day when the specialists were all saying "nothing wrong here".

There is a necessary balance needed. Too many "Jack of all trades" and you get shallow skills. Too many specialists and you get system-wide problems.

Specialists are relatively easy and quick to train. People with a competent wide knowledge that can be applied intelligently have to be grown - and it is a slow process that starts even before they enter the work force. Most people are content to be "appliance operators" who don't have the urge to look beyond their role's interface. A small number of others want to understand "why".

There is also a potentially disastrous group who are the status-seeking "chancers". With padded CVs they have cultivated a management pleasing "can do" over-optimism.

The "T-shaped generation" is mostly retired or getting close to it. Growing a new one will require many years of technical education of youngsters that won't come on stream for a long while yet.