Being a recruiter in these harsh times is obviously not something to
wish for, as few companies are hiring in the midst of a recession, and
Silicon Valley job hunters are finding themselves out of work.
Nobody knows how many job recruiters are based out of Silicon Valley,
but one thing is clear - most of them have very little to do, and many
are out of work. The profession was decimated by the recession, with
hundreds of job cuts in past months, and no new positions are opening.
The few that do show up attract ass many as 500 applicants. Rates paid
to recruiters who are fortunate enough to still have a job have dropped
by 50 percent, as hiring people nowadays is as easy as selling candy
bars in fat camp.
“Recruiters are
kind of the canary in the coal mine,” said John Moed, a moderator of an online community for recruiters with about 3,700
members. “When things are great, the bird is singing away and you can’t
find enough recruiters. But they are the first to go when things are
slow.”
Google is a good example, the first hundred people to loose their jobs
at the search giant were recruiters. In 2007 Google hired 2,100 workers
in a single quarter, and in the last quarter of 2008 it hired less than a hundred.
Most recruiters work as contractors, so laying them off is quite easy, and they even aren't eligible for unemployment benefits.
More
here.