Hard times Tech workers trying to find jobs face a bleak futureBy (April 29, 2002) In interviews, more than 50 CIOs, high-tech hiring managers, recruiters, consultants and out-of-work IT professionals in different regions of the country told the same story: Two years of heavy corporate merger activity followed by the dot-com bust and a general downturn in the economy have brutalized the IT job market, victimizing even veteran, highly skilled IT professionals. The result is the largest pool ever of unemployed computer specialists, who are alternately bewildered, angry and, increasingly, bitter. A harsh economy has forced many into lengthy unemployment,...