Here's how I see it. I've been working exclusively in PHP for the last 2 years, and those were good times. But with the crash of the VC market and fewer and fewer internet startups out there PHP is fading out in the job market. I'm not saying that PHP is dead, just that there are fewer and fewer advertised jobs for it. It was/is a very good platform for statup companies and companies that like the whole opensource idea. Unfortunatly the companies that have survived typically have an old school approach to technology (pay for it, and have someone to blame when it doesn't work). I've reciently had to take a job working outside of PHP (don't ask what in) because I needed the stability, and there just aren't that many PHP jobs out there.
If you are looking for something to learn to make yourself valuable to a prospective employeer you need to stick to the basics C/C++. Java has some headway and many companies are embracing it, but it's still very young and the job opportunities are smaller than C/C++. In my oppinion your best bet is to get a solid understanding of programming, no matter what language. Understanding how to program is worth a lot more than knowing the syntax of any particular language. Syntax can be taught in a matter of weeks, new concepts take months, but understanding how computers work and the logic behind programming can take years.
