IT Jobs Continue Growth

That's good to hear, and the chart that accompanied the press release confirmed what I had suspected: that job growth was in the tank over the holidays, both this year and last, but other than that it is turning around. While the long night may be over for us consultants, I have a feeling the dawn will be slow in coming.
Looking over the consulting field, using my intuition (which is worth what you pay for it, folks), my feeling is that a lot of support work is disappearing. But I also feel that new development is on the rise, and quite frankly that's personally more rewarding to do. We're quickly moving to a day where, unless you've got a touchy-feely with the customer (like direct person-to-person support), if you're flipping knobs and turning switches, your job is moving on down the road. Where to go?
If I were in network support I would get into network construction -- lots of neat stuff going on with WiFi, WiMax, you name it. All those people that jumped to one technology will be calling you back in a couple years for the next thing, so the money should be steady, at least for a while. Adding VOIP (with freeware to work it) and freeware PBX programs, and the network is the thing.
In software, my call would be multiple languages, then moving closer to the business users. Once again, the paradigm is that the closer relationship you have with people, the harder it is to be to replace your job. Since there is always going to be a need for a "translator" between the business and technical folks, that's the spot to be in.
Managers? That's a much tougher question. We've made management complicated enough, and there is no sign of it letting up anytime soon. Aside from multiple methodologies (PMI and RUP would be a good start, OPM is also great), the trick to management is going to be understanding how your level of management fits into a larger picture. The good news here is that there are answers to this question. The bad news is that companies are all over the place -- it's an area where knowing multiple "case studies" in depth can really pay off down the road.