For my friend, having free time is no longer a novelty. For the rest of us, it's too late to say "things will get better soon" with any kind of conviction when you're concerned that they won't.

The problem with unemployment isn't just one of financial need; it's losing a part of one's self. Men and, I would argue, women too define themselves by their jobs and need them less for sustenance than for their souls. The longer one is jobless, the harder it is to bounce back.

There's anecdotal and statistical evidence that many engineers are now unemployed or have experienced some period of unemployment this year because of the industry downturn. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment among EEs reached a peak in the first quarter, when a total of 30,000 engineers were out of work, which translates to a 4.1 percent unemployment rate among EEs. During 2001, BLS reported that the EE unemployment rate ranged from 1.1 percent for the first quarter to 2.9 percent for the fourth, for an average of 2 percent for the year. It's not a pretty picture.

Job loss may be hard to talk about, but readers who have experienced unemployment this year might want to share their experiences with EE Times for our 2002 "Worldwide Salary & Opinion Survey." If you're one of those currently out of a job, I wish you the best in your job search and hope you continue to read this paper. If you haven't already received an invitation to do so, please consider taking part in the EE Times "Salary & Opinion Survey" Web questionnaire, posted at www.researchstar.

com/salary/begin.htm. We'd like to get a handle on just how our readers have been affected by the downturn, especially with regard to employment.

We've added new questions to the survey this year that refer to things like length of unemployment, use of and preferences for Internet job search engines, impact of the downturn on project cycles and women's roles in engineering design teams.

Your answers are important since our sample size is small. Moreover, your responses will help direct our coverage of the profession and career news in the year ahead.

Bouncing back is key for those who have suffered a job loss. It's important for industries, too. News from across the electronics industry indicates that a recovery is beginning, if slowly.

Life may be turning around for my unemployed friend, too. He scheduled another job interview and has started talking about work again. We'll take that as a sign that things might indeed be looking up.