I know I only see a small part of a whole and I lack full perspective on things, but from where I'm standing the biggest challenge of every funded/profitable company I know is hiring good people fast enough. All the good people I know (even in non-tech fields, including finance and real estate) are employed. Even most pretty marginal people I know are employed (at salaries they aren't happy with, but certainly nothing unbearable). Perhaps the people that are losing jobs weren't that good at them to begin with?
I realize that not everyone can be super-professional at what they do, and that's fine. But in my social circle (which includes all kinds of people from no skills/no education immigrants to highly specialized professionals in a variety of locations throughout the U.S.), nobody is really struggling. So what gives?
That's actually a common effect of a recession. People with halfway decent jobs are much more likely to stay put, because they don't want to take the risk of switching to a new company and having it fail soon after.
I realize that not everyone can be super-professional at what they do, and that's fine. But in my social circle (which includes all kinds of people from no skills/no education immigrants to highly specialized professionals in a variety of locations throughout the U.S.), nobody is really struggling. So what gives?