My personal observation (i.e., subjective) is that the commercial companies have taken a hit and will continue to wimper for a while (> a year). To a MUCH greater extent the "high-tech start-ups" have taken a fall (crash) as well. However, particulary after September, Government labs and Government-contractors are VERY strong, and they're starting to scream for engineers. At a high-level, I believe (? guess ?) the number of engineers needed has remained about constant, but the focus has shifted dramatically. Pat ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list or at our remote archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list/messages Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu