I have often wondered this myself. I don't have any personal experience to realte to you since I myself am a aviation-related degree type of person, but I would think that with how often tides are changing that any technical degree (engineering, architecture, science, computers, etc...) a significant time spent away from the field and the job will be drastically different than when you left it. I think that you would have to spend considerable time getting back up to speed with the latest innovations before a future employer would see you as an equal with even a recent graduate with experience in the newest technologies.

USMCFLYR