影响就业岗位创造的不仅仅是疲弱的经济增长。经济顾问公司Decision Economics的斯奈说，企业以盈利为名，用外包或技术取代了劳动力。工资和福利让工人成本非常高，还有谁愿意雇佣工人？结果就是，除非增速比我们预计的要高一倍，否则失业的工人不会被重新雇佣回来。
It isn't just weak growth that's damping job creation. 'Companies, in the name of making money, substitute against labor through outsourcing or technology,' says Allen Sinai of Decision Economics. Wages and benefits make workers 'so expensive that who wants to hire them? As a result, the displaced workers won't be rehired unless we have double the growth rate we're expecting.'
不过一些企业利用衰退来寻找用更少的人实现更大利润的方法。位于佛罗里达州奥兰多的中佛罗里达大学经济学家史乃斯说，对衰退存在着达尔文进化论式的观点。他说，生存下来的企业由于有了这样的经验变得更强，他们会节约开支，寻找减少浪费的方法。
But some companies have used the recession to find ways to do more with less. 'There's a certain Darwinian angle to recession,' says economist Sean Snaith of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla. 'Firms that survive are stronger for having the experience. They tighten down and look for ways to cut waste.'