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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 10:28:34 -0400
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: politech@politechbot.com
Subject: FC: Don't despair: Tech jobs continue to increase, not decrease
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,43101,00.html
Feds: Chicken Little Is Lying
by Declan McCullagh and Ryan Sager
2:00 a.m. Apr. 18, 2001 PDT
WASHINGTON -- Everyone knows by now that this is supposed to be a
perilous time to hold a technology-related job.
Well-publicized layoffs at bellwether firms such as Yahoo, Cisco and
Ericsson have spooked current employees, while leaving hundreds of
thousands of their former officemates hunting for jobs. Citing a
slowing economy, old-guard companies such as Disney, Visa and Dupont
have also slashed payrolls.
So why, then, is the overall number of jobs in the computer industry
steadily increasing?
Preliminary figures from the U.S. Department of Labor show that
between February and March of this year, companies in the computer and
data processing sector added -- not dropped -- a combined total of
12,000 jobs. In fact, the March 2001 data show a jump of 100,000 jobs
from a year ago.
While that may not cheer up someone who's been laid off and searching
for new work, the numbers suggest that the job market is not as
moribund as many people think.
Because U.S. unemployment has remained relatively constant -- it was
4.3 percent last month -- laid-off workers seem to be rehired pretty
quickly.
[...]
One explanation for the difference between public opinion and reality
is that corporate layoffs almost always draw news reports, while
announcements of job opportunities do not. Another explanation is that
announcements of layoffs are skyrocketing -- but actual layoffs are
not.
The Employment Policy Foundation, a think tank in Washington, released
a study earlier this month that said the rate of announced job cuts
jumped 113 percent in the last nine months compared to the first half
of last year. But, the group concluded, actual job losses increased
only nine percent.
[...]
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