While technology's unemployment rate is relatively low — about half the national average in this year's Q1 — we're still getting pummeled by layoffs, especially in hardware. HP, for example, bumped up its level of mass layoffs last month to 29,000 positions.

Over the past decade, computer hardware companies have led IT sectors imposing layoffs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In August, things weren't much better in the overall computer and electronics product sector.

It's worth noting that companies, as they develop new strategies and abandon old ones, often lay off employees in one part of the house while adding staff in another — not that there's any comfort there for those getting the pink slips.