[ARCADIA]

It is this creative destruction that makes us more and more competitive each year.

Layoffs are fine. However, for your theory to hold true we would have to see a correspondent expansion in other sectors (those highly competitive ones) and that has not materialized. No one cares if JAVA programers disappear in favor of XYZ programmers, the majority would simply move on to the more advanced language and some would remain to support the legacy systems. It is when you have no realistic job alternative that we have a problem, and that is where we are today.

[Southack]

"It is when you have no realistic job alternative that we have a problem, and that is where we are today."

Call me when you see your first breadline.

The Great Depression saw breadlines, and back then there really weren't any realistic job alternatives.

Today, with 5.7% unemployment, however, that's hardly the case. Your particular *field* may be hard hit, but overall the nation is doing fine. Any official unemplyment rate below 6% is full employment nationwide.

Europe has 10 to 11% unemployment and they're not hollering as loud as the few laid off techies around here.