[legion]

This is the part of the business cycle where some companies shoot themselves in the foot, some shoot themselves in the head, some find new opportunites, and some lean out just enough to get by.

Unfortunately, most layoffs are not done intelligently.

Maybe it's our PC culture, or the fact that the people that make layoff decisions are usually several layers removed from the people they are firing, but the arbitrary standards applied to who gets the ax often end up damaging a company more than helping it.

In 1999 Lucent Technologies missed their quarterly earnings targets. Management took quick, decisive action. They fired all of their senior engineers to cut costs. There ended Lucent's high-flying days. All of their experience and business knowledge walked out the door and they were left with just a few fresh-out-of-college engineers to do the work. They shot themselves in the head.