Tech industry struggles under economic pressure...

Updated on March 15, 2009

Many laid-off Tech workers have turned to job fairs and technology summits in an effort to make new career contacts. With the economy in strain, it pays to have options. A recent article from wired.com has highlighted the growing popularity of events such as the The South by Southwest Interactive conference (SXSW).

"The SXSW Interactive Festival features five days of exciting panel content and amazing parties. Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology. Whether you are a hard-core geek, a dedicated content creator, a new media entrepreneur, or just someone who likes being around an extremely creative community, SXSW Interactive is for you!" ~ courtesy of SXSW

Gatherings such as these are great places to meet contacts for possible job opportunities. Paper cuts from the sheer amount of business cards collected would be enough to make anyone dread lemon juice for weeks. No one can argue the benefits of having a buddy on the inside of a prospective employer, especially in today's competitive job hunting arena.

But the SXSW is not purely for the unemployed, it also attracts the employed but paranoid worker who has heard rumors of "cut-backs" and "corporate restructuring". What this means is there are less jobs out there, but even more competition than ever. With the unemployed and employed alike competing for their next big job amidst a shrinking job market, will companies react with multiple low-wage positions or make determinations based on supply and demand (meaning high salaries for the few lucky enough to gain employment)? Prudent business practices would promote the latter solution in order to maintain a "more bang for your buck" attitude.

This logic of supply and demand would favor bringing in over-qualified applicants for lower wage positions simply because of their dire need for employment. The newly hired employee would then fell under appreciated and under paid for his/her capabilities, as well as putting greater strain on the many who did not get hired on. Then the inevitable snowball affect of the continuing frustration of an employee who wants more for his/her abilities and value to the company, but is unwilling to address the topic for fear of causing possible harm in the solidity of their position. This could also cause noticeable stress in the workplace and add to the underlying problem of forcing the few employees to achieve the same results as fully staffed organization.

The 1999 classic movie "Office Space" is a subtle comedic warning to the sometimes cold and careless outlook corporations can have on their employees. Although released into theatres a decade ago near the end of the Dot Com boom, many Tech industry workers must be feeling a close relation to the employees of Initech (a fictional software company where the main characters work). The company hires on "efficiency experts" to find the employees who have been deemed expendable in order to streamline processes and save money. These experts have seemingly little concern for the affects their actions will have on the workers and the industry as a whole. I hope the real-world experts will give a little more thought into the long-term ramifications of laying off thousands of techies.