Since January, our neighbour, Nortel Networks, has been constantly making headlines with its perpetual goal to downsize its workforce to compensate for its unpredictable market worth and even more unpredictable economic climate. Nortel is one of many software companies in Silicon Valley North that relies on UW co-op students to develop and deliver its products. Students come cheap, we re paid relatively low salaries and don t cash in on benefit plans. Furthermore, we re easily disposable at the end of four months, the company has the choice to bid farewell forever or ask us to come back four months down the road. Although many people seem to loathe it, the public sector seems to be the safest place to work in Ottawa right now.
Layoffs can take a tremendous toll on co-op students.
This week, a friend of mine, who also works for a tech company, described her office as being like a funeral when 75 people half the site were laid off on a Monday morning. People were crying and wondering how they would support their families. Unfortunately, this is the reality of this industry right now. So, we must wonder how this lapse in the economy is going to affect co-op at Waterloo. If tech companies can t afford to keep employees, this surely must affect the amount of job requests coming into co-op.