Re: FWD: Layoffs and scrounging

[Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM>]

Anonymous wrote:

> How are other companies doing that provide capital equipment? Is the
> slowdown unique to the industry I'm in?
>
> Should I be looking for another job right now?

The answer to the second question is Yes!  But I tend to take that
position - or at least be kinda looking around - wherever I am.  Being a
"captive" employee only means that the layoff will likely hit you
unexpectedly, and that there might be some severance benefits, not that
you're any more sure of keeping your job when the company hits uncertain
times.

In terms of what's happening to capital equipment industries, kinda
depends on what industry you're in.  People who make capital equipment
for the chip industry have been laying people off right and left,
although in Silicon Valley there seems to be almost seamless paths for
those laid off to get hired elsewhere.  Right now people who make
capital equipment - and parts - for General Motors are having trouble,
and there have been layoffs.  There has been a slight dip in the sale of
personal computers - Microsoft, Intel, and Gateway have all announced
drops in expected levels of sales in that area - because of the 'Asian
financial flu.'  But there are other areas of the economy that are doing
just fine, thankyouverymuch.

In terms of scrounging, it's much easier to upgrade an existing computer
with new state-of-the-art parts after six months when someone comes back
than it is to justify a performance machine sitting idly in a vacant
cubicle while those who could use that performance demonstrate a need
for that computer.  It's fairly common, in my experience, for the
survivors to scrounge computers, supplies, etc. from the cubes of those
who've been laid off.

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems