my ire is aroused! i have struggled against it my entire career. here in the states web design is looked at as bing a blend of programming and design.
everyone wants to hire people who are able to do it all perfectly instead of hiring a solid team comprised of complementing job specialties. there is a point to knowing several things but do not expect me to be a master of it if it is not my focus! the .Net developer that sits next to me is occationally asked to change images or css displays. we usually just trade our tasks after the boss leaves. as long as it gets done he doesn't care.
what these people need are watchmakers. someone who can design a functional face and make the intricate gears, put it together so it all works as a functioning time piece, and then upgrade it from time to time.
this predicament is indicative of in-house designers though and not so much for the members of design teams or advert firms. the close the boss is to the industry the more they know the distinction between the positions and specialties within.
in-house is good for benefits and job security where design firms let you actually stretch your creative legs and experiment a bit more with your work. i've worked in both and despite my annoyance to being mistaken for a programmer i'll put up with it rather than fear for job security and lack of benefits from month to month. every once in a while i can convince my boss to let me do something different or give the site a slightly different look. for the most part though my job is mostly site maintainability.
lol... i'm an internet janitor!
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