While India has started showing signs of recovery over the last couple of months, the U.S. economy has seen over 2.6 million job losses in 2008, according to government reports. However, a recent survey more than 90 percent of economists predict that the recession will end this year, although the recovery is likely to be bumpy. That assessment came from leading forecasters in a survey by the National Association for Business Economics.

About 74 percent of the forecasters expect the recession, which started in December 2007 and is the longest since World War II, to end in the third quarter this year. Another 19 percent predict that a turning point will begin to show in the final three months of this year, and the remaining 7 percent believe the recession will end in the first quarter of 2010. For all of this year, the forecasters say the unemployment rate will be at an average 9.1 percent, a big jump from the 5.8 percent of last year and up from its current quarter-century peak of 8.9 percent. Obviously, it is going to be a sluggish recovery by all means.

As can be expected, the continuing global uncertainty and market turmoil has impacted the overall recruitment market going far beyond the IT, BPO, real estate, and the BFSI sectors. We hear on a daily basis about cost cutting measures being announced by companies. For many firms 'right sizing' is the order of the day, regardless of their size; and the senior managers across companies are holding back or cutting down investment in employees. Facing a layoff is fast becoming a real prospect for many professionals. Today, to keep a job, the employee needs to work smart and do whatever it takes to ensure value to the employer.

Cutting jobs may make balance sheets look better; but it is not always a good long-term decision from a business perspective, as organizations need employees to serve customers efficiently. At times there are demands for increased productivity per employee, which can come about only if there is adequate investment in the employees. But this applies only to the employees that the firm needs to hold on to and not the rest.

From an employer's point of view, hiring happens only if the company has sufficient projects in the pipeline and recruitment should always be in synchronization with projects needs. As far as an employee is concerned, he should consider the track record or performance of the company, the commitment of the company towards its employees, and finally the professional growth and learning prospects.