For Tech, a Tale of Two Downturns

It would seem we’ve got all the makings of a tech shipwreck.

In the past few days, Xerox (XRX), Yahoo (YHOO) and eBay (EBAY) each announced plans to cut thousands of jobs. Esteemed Silicon Valley VC firm Sequoia Capital is warning entrepreneurs that it’s time to batten down the hatches because the good times are over. Start-ups Adbrite, imeem, Seesmic and Zivity are each laying off at least a quarter of their employees. We’ve been here before, and it looks ugly.

Or does it? Listen to execs at some high-flying companies on the other hand, and you get a somewhat different outlook. Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs this week told investors he plans no job cuts, and he’s “not tremendously worried” about Apple’s outlook.

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