Once the high-tech haven of wannabe millionaires, the online frontier of Silicon Valley seems to have lost its pioneering spirit. As the vein of venture capital runs dry, hordes of young opportunists who immigrated to the San Francisco Bay area now find themselves stranded - and frantically re-evaluating their prospects.
"People are pessimistic. Every time you turn on the news there are reports of more companies laying people off, and it's not just dotcoms. But people are trying to stay positive, waiting for it all to turn around," says Jackie McCrimmon.
Originally from Dublin, McCrimmon lives in San Jose, just south of San Francisco. In August 1999, she joined Parago, formerly How2.com, as a graphic designer in its InfoCenter division. Seventeen months later, Jackie and her 25 colleagues in the division were let go.
Parago provides Internet-based customer-relationship solutions. While its main business is still viable, the InfoCenter, like many e-ventures, failed to generate enough business.
Four months on, McCrimmon's anxiety is deepening, as she cannot find an opening in her field. Recruitment agencies offer no consolation. The labour market is flooded, according to Danny Stern of Aquent, which specialises in recruiting for the art-and-design sector.
The worst hit have been those employed on the production side of ebusinesses, such as encoders, web designers, project managers and support technicians. "Last year, such skills as content manager and site architect would have a built-in cachet, but that is no longer the case," says Stern.
Not only are e-businesses crashing daily, but also bricks-and-mortar companies no longer feel the need to invest in a web presence, further reducing employment opportunities. With her skill base devalued, McCrimmon is faced with the challenge of translating her experience into other media.
"I attended a job fair recently. The organisers expected about 2,500 jobseekers to turn up - over 5,000 people showed. It was worse than the Christmas sales. The place was packed with people pushing and shoving to get to talk to companies, many of which had hiring freezes on. At some booths, the companies had just left notes saying: `Sorry we couldn't be here in person, but please leave a resume.' You know those companies aren't hiring."
This time last year George Chiu, who worked with McCrimmon as a projet co-ordinator, felt his position was secure. Now he faces an alien labour market.
"Up to six months ago, I had been contacted at various times about employment opportunities. Now I send out resumes and get no response. The competition is fierce. There are people who have been in the business for over 10 years, with master's degrees from an Ivy League schools, wanting the same job. How do I compete with that?"
Amid the gloom, the sunny Californian attitude still shines through with the emergence of "pink slip parties". Initially organised by industry networking clubs such as sfGirl.com job-seekers together, they have been adopted by local bars as speciality nights. But however appealing the idea, the reality has not changed, according to McCrimmon.
"I went along to see what it was all about. Everyone wears a tag with their name, `haves' and `wants'. So my `have' was `design skills', my `want' was `a job'. I collected some business cards and spoke to a few recruiters and business owners, but no one had any openings."
NOT everyone has been hit by the decline in the market. David Cahill, another Dubliner living in San Francisco, is a manager of network operations for Salesforce.com, another customerrelationship consultancy, whose Europe, Middle East and Africa offices are based in Ireland. He is not worried about the company's future, saying it has a solid business model.
Cahill believes the employment market has changed for the better. "We had a terrible time last year, trying to hire qualified people; as a result we had key positions vacant . . . Now it is much more sane. It has freed up a lot of good talent."
Those who have borne the brunt of the downturn, he says, were underqualified or lacked experience.
With the San Francisco county unemployment rate at 3.1 per cent, the situation is bleak, says McCrimmon, but it is nothing like Ireland's recession of the 1980s, as there are still opportunities outside the computer industry. She and Chiu are considering changes in career, even as short-term measures until the economy turns around.
How long that will take is another question. Some say up to 12 months. Others, such as Danny Stern, believe it could take a couple of years before the local economy recovers. The downturn is a common pattern in the Valley, as it is a Mecca for risk-takers and pioneers, he says.
While Chiu is disappointed by the dotcom flop, Jackie says she doesn't feel duped.
"I was just going to ride it out for as long as it lasted. If I made a quick buck or two in the meantime, well and good. But I think I knew all along it wasn't going to last - how could it?"