Layoffs Hit High Tech; Professional Dominatrixs on the Rise?

Even though the tech sector is still doing better than some other industries in the U.S., it's not immune to the current economic mess. As more companies report layoffs, demand for high-tech professionals is beginning to slide downward, according to statistics released this week.

Global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Wednesday released job cut totals for January, which prove the year-end trend to slash positions as a cost-cutting measure will continue into 2009. According to the firm, the number of planned job losses announced in January reached 241,749, which represents a 45% increase over December 2008 totals and 222% higher than the 74,986 cuts announced at the beginning of 2008, writes Network World.

Apparently with the layoffs comes an interesting career change for some women in high tech. The Daily Beast writer Tracy Quan reports on what becomes of Silicon Valley's finest post job loss. That is, women in tech, sans jobs, freelance in the - legal - sex industry to get by. As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough bring out whips and chains and scream "who's your mommy?"

Ok, they don't say that... but they might as well. "With staff jobs evaporating and former nine-to-fivers cobbling together incomes through scattered side projects, freelancing as a dominatrix -- or "pro-domme," as industry types prefer to call it -- has become a plausible gig option."

The pay is pretty good, and it beats being unemployed. The article refers to Jessica, a pro-domme in her late twenties, who apprenticed at a dungeon before striking out on her own. In Manhattan dungeons, she said, the typical cut on a $200 session is 60-40 in the dungeon's favor. So that's $80 an hour. Four times what I'm making working a legit marketing job in high tech.

Still, I can't quite bring myself to freelance in a dungeon. It's not that I couldn't yell at men and tell them worship me... it's just, I'd be terrified of someone I know, professionally or personally, finding out - or worse - meeting me with their testicles tied in a knot in my dungeon. Yea, that would be weird.

Would you ever consider legal sex work if you needed the cash, or have you ever done any of this kind of work? I've always been interested in working as a phone sex operator... seems like a pretty easy job. But I doubt the money is all that good, especially these days where everyone has the Internet.