Ironically, the high-speed servers and automated Web services that helped usher in the late 1990s boom also allowed companies to rely on fewer workers -- particularly in customer service and other support functions. Career experts say the jobs in the tech sector will remain scarce because of the productivity gains that tech workers enabled. For instance, Dell Computer slashed 5,400 workers in 2001 -- the only time the company ever laid off workers. Although profits dropped 43 percent, Dell shipped 18 percent more personal computers in 2001 than the previous year -- an increase in productivity that could lead hiring managers to question the need to rehire any of the people it laid off. Also, many executives say their companies cannot afford to purchase new hardware or software because they gorged on cutting-edge technologies in the late 1990s. According to a March survey of 100 American and European chief information officers by Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich, 56 percent of chief information officers said that "meaningful improvement" in IT spending would not happen until 2003. Although many acknowledged they'll purchase software this year related to enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management, 34 percent said they did not need more servers to run the new applications. Another factor contributing to the hiring doldrums is venture capitalists' fear. They were among the hardest-hit investors when the bubble burst in the spring of 2000, and they're loathe to lavish cash on start-ups -- unlike in the late 1990s, when funding encouraged bloated staffs. VC firms that are investing at all are usually offering "maintenance" rounds to keep the business afloat, not "expansion" rounds for new hires. "A lot of companies are still cutting work forces, or at least holding them stable," said Deepak Kamra, a general partner at Canaan Ventures in Menlo Park, California. "I don't have a crystal ball, but I'd say that you'll wait at least a quarter for companies to do more hiring -- and that's if the stock market picks up. I'd be surprised if we ever got back to the job market of the first period of 2000 on a sustained basis." VC bleakness is bad news for Scott Hazen Mueller, an Internet operations manager who was laid off from a Sunnyvale, California-based Internet service provider in July 2001. Three months after that layoff he accepted a job as a project consultant, but that dried up after five months. He's been unemployed ever since, watching his savings dwindle and going into debt. "It's been pretty ugly, especially the Web job boards," said Mueller, 38, who lives near Modesto, California, and originally began looking for jobs in the Silicon Valley. "I've sent out something like 500 resumes, and in the last seven months I've had one interview...I'm willing to go wherever it takes. I'm talking to one recruiter for a job in Columbus, Ohio, and another in the Los Angeles area." Mueller's spirits have lifted in the past few weeks because his phone has started ringing with calls from recruiters. Although none have resulted in interviews or offers, he's happy they're at least returning his calls. "I've seen the most activity in the past week as I've seen in the past seven months," said Mueller, who boosted his salary by switching jobs three times in the past five years. "Maybe things are rebounding. At this point, I only want to go to work for a solvent company where I can stay there for a good, solid five years. I'm ready to settle down."
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