Until the government opens a can of stimulus on this economy
The recession has hit the tech sector and companies are cutting jobs. Fewer people are buying and that is making shareholders a little uneasy. As a result some of us are losing our job. It is easy to feel hopeless about things. I know it feels a little discouraging for those who started in this industry when I did; mostly because we got into this industry at a time when we were deep within the tech boom of the 1990s and we all enjoyed limitless job security.
Just as we so quickly moved from boom times to recession, we will turn this around. In the mean time there are some opportunities to seize. One that immediately comes to mind is the opportunity to build your network. One of the few upsides to the recent spike in layoffs, and there are not many, is that you and/or your former colleagues will be moving on to a new job. Make sure that you keep in touch with the people that you respect the most. Smart people will find other smart people and place themselves well.
Last year, when I left my last employer of ten years, I kept a good number of connections. A lot of these people continue to be in my Twitter list, FriendFeed, Facebook, and RSS Reader. I attend user groups with them and meet on occasion for drinks. Some of them have moved to a couple of other companies in the past year. I have met some of their colleagues and learned a lot. It seems every time there is a layoff announcement, I have a few more friends and contacts that let me know that I have a place to go if a pink-slip finds its way to me.
PHOTO CREDIT: Uploaded to Flickr on May 26, 2006 by dt10111
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