Though I agree with you, their ignorance is NOT going to pay the bills.
Unemployment used to be two years. It was lowered to six months during the "boom" years as it wasn't really needed. It IS needed now. There are over 90,000 laid off high tech workers in Silicon Valley out of a high tech workforce of approx 300,000. Do the math, that is approx 33%. These high tech workers are NOT bums and WOULD take just about any job. Contrary to a few delusional misinformed or just plain stupid people on this thread, there are NOT 90,000 low level jobs for these people to take. The government really does NOT want the technical base of this country, you know ... the people who design the nifty high tech stuff that keeps us a super power and enables us to defeat our enemies though they out number us ... the government does NOT want to lose those people to Burger King. So George W gives out an additional 3 months ($4,000) of unemployment so these people can at least feed their families while they try to find a job. Most of these laid off high tech workers pay and have paid high taxes through the years. That $4,000 pittance is not even 10% of what I paid in taxes last year. That little $330 a week is not going to pay the mortgage nor is it meant to. That means that people who have been out of work for 6-12 month have probably already lost their life savings trying to keep their houses which are now probably in foreclosure. The rate of mortgage default in Silicon Valley as reported by the media is ... 42%.
If you noticed ... not only did the job market tank BUT the stock market also crashed during this time. A lot of these people saved their money ... as they as supposed to ... in various markets including long term 401K's ... and lost EVERYTHING (like me). The banks pay ... what 1.5%? Oh ya that's a good investment for the future.
The bottomline of this rant is ...
1. Unemployed high tech workers are NOT bums looking for a hand out. Their jobs have been stolen from them by H1B's who have NO business in our country taking our jobs just so some greedy company can make an easy buck.
2. H1B's can work for minimum wage because they DO NOT have to live in THIS society when they leave. It is NOT a level playing field for the American worker.
3. Lower wage paying companies are NOT going to hire highly (over) qualified people. AND if a high tech worker aws lucky enough to land a low paying job, he would NO LONGER be available to interview for high tech jobs if they became available cause he is now flipping burgers in Podunk (where the jobs are).
4. The next industry hit by this could EASILY be yours ... so get off your arrogant assinine high horse (not talking to you personally John)
5. Most of these high tech workers have spent a lifetime building their lives and are NOT likely to give them up before the situation becomes critical ... we HAVE been though downturns before, BUT in high tech this is NOT a repression ... as the media recently reported, it is a high tech DEPRESSION. No one could have anticipated the level that this has reached.
On a good note ... after 9 months of hell 88 recruiters and dozens of resume submittals ... I got a job in an electronics company doing something distantly related to my disipline. I was into my first extension, without which I would have gone hungry.