Early last year, when the IT hiring crisis was at its peak, Nortel Networks Corp. hired, en masse, 34 graduates from the Santa Clara University computer-engineering class of 2000.
Most have now been let go because of the economic slowdown. Nortel won't say how many, but a spokesman says some of the "employment opportunities no longer exist."
It's uncertain if Nortel will revisit such an unusual hiring tactic. Says the spokesman, "The hiring crunch was a phenomenon that happened once."