Why shouldn't they, the government will be there with a safety net.
I used to work for IBM. One of my friends was just given the “find another job in 30 days or you’re out” letter last Monday. Not a pleasant thing to receive at the best of times, but it’s going to be tough to find another job right now.
That said, I expect IBM to weather the recession better than many other companies, so I don’t see wholesale layoffs on the horizon just yet.
I don’t know why, but as someone who has worked for a couple of large companies I get some grim satisfaction when HR people get laid off.
I've been thinking about this for quite a while. With the "global economy," it's practically impossible to keep one end of the bathtub full while the other is empty.