Stauffacher wrote code for the Net start-up Epicentric, but decided to switch to systems administration. "There's greater demand for system administrators," he says. "Right now, they need more administrators than they do programmers. Engineers are still in demand. But what's really not in demand are the lower-end programmers. What people are looking for now are more skilled engineers."

Tyler, 30 (who asked that his last name not be used), programs in C++, PHP and MySQL. He left a small, floundering Bay Area company in mid-December, and is now considering making the same move to becoming a sys admin. "After a month with no interviews, I gave up looking and took two weeks off to teach myself Java. I'm going to try looking again in a week or so, and I'm going to be a lot less picky than before. I'm considering downshifting to sys admin if I can't find a programming position."

But if you think of becoming a system administrator as a fallback, don't try it in Seattle right now. Paul Beard, 38, the former director of technical operations for Fizzylab, a now defunct Internet infrastructure company, says that he's been looking for a job in I.T. since Jan. 19. "It's pretty bad. There are so many layoffs, and so many people out at the same time, and nobody is doing much hiring. They're taking a wait-and-see attitude. 'We're waiting until second quarter before we make any decisions.' It's a buyer's market, and the buyers aren't buying."

Even companies that do have jobs available aren't as feverish as they were just months ago. Tyler says, "Of the companies that aren't failing or laying off, they're either in a hiring freeze or they're growing much more slowly than they were before. So effectively they're looking, but they're not as desperate as before. They're taking their time. There are jobs, but it's not the feeding frenzy anymore."

Leslie Ayres, a recruiter, explains the skittishness this way: "If you heard a bomb go off in your neighborhood, even if it didn't hurt your house, you'd stop what you're doing, wait and listen and see what's happening. A lot of companies who really have no imminent threats to their business are doing exactly that. There are companies that have openings, and they've budgeted for those openings. But they're going to wait a month or two to see what happens. So there truly are fewer jobs."

At this point, Tyler would take either full-time or contract gigs, but he hears that the contract market is even worse. Mitch Balzer, an account manager for Prism Group, is a recruiter who places contract programmers in temporary positions -- when there are positions. "There's a huge surplus of labor, at least in the Bay Area. Our other offices have seen it as well. There's no shortage of talent at this point." That's a big change from just 12 months ago.

"A year ago, it was more of a chase to find the consultant to match the job, whereas this year, it's more of a chase to find the job for your consultant," says Balzer. And when bigger companies have to get lean, whether it's to appease the financial markets or just general belt-tightening, "the contract staff generally go first."

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