NYT: Commute to Nowhere

Very depressing story (long) in the NYT Magazine about unemployed executives in the NY area, which begins with a profile of Jeff Einstein, author of the early computer how-to books Einstien's Computer Guides, founder of "what industry experts consider the first interactive ad agency, Einstein & Sandom Inc.," and later a top exec at several leading hipster Silicon Alley agencies in the heyday of the Net. After a year and a half of unemployment, he's now working for $10 an hour at The Gap.

Jeff, who is 50, lost his job at Rapp Digital almost two years ago, making him one of 21,000 computer-industry professionals in New York City to have been let go since the end of 2000. In percentage terms the numbers are even starker. Between December 2000 and January 2003, the industry slashed 41 percent of its positions.

…The economy is grim nationwide, but the picture in New York City is especially bleak. Since the end of 2000, the media-and-communications sector has cut 15 percent of its jobs, telecommunications 27 percent, advertising 25 percent.