"We don't buy PCs anymore. We don't buy printers anymore. We don't buy fax machines anymore. We don't buy copy machines anymore," chief operating officer Alain Couder told Reuters in a recent interview.

What makes Agilent's story even more remarkable is that the company is a hatchling of Hewlett-Packard, one of Silicon Valley's best-established names and a not-insubstantial player in the PC and printer markets.

HP (Palo Alto, Calif.) has announced downsizing of its own, but Andrew Adams, who manages "leveraged talent acquisition" for the company, says HP is hiring in "selected, very technical areas."

"We're always looking for double-Es who are chip designers," as well as those who could fit into HP's hardware and software consulting divisions, says Adams, who adds that many of the current openings are in the Fort Collins, Colo., region, where the company has a large systems-integration team. HP is also especially interested in EEs with wireless backgrounds. "Mobility and wireless technology is where a lot of our investments are going," Adams says.

The body blows the high-tech sector has taken have obviously hurt HP, Adams says, but they've also shaken loose qualified engineers who might otherwise have been locked up in startups. "Suddenly everybody comes to you and says, 'I want to work for a cutting-edge company that is investing in and producing new tech, but I want a bigger, more secure company with a successful track record.'" The point being, established businesses with the ability to hire even in the downturn stand to put even more distance between themselves and their competitors in the eventual upswing.

Susan Peterson, a staffing executive at Compaq in Cupertino, Calif., says that the PC maker is also in a hiring way, though not nearly as actively as last year. "We are looking for some people to fill roles, especially in the management area," says Peterson. Compaq is especially keen on finding engineers who straddle the line between hardware and software, and those with a background in embedded. And despite the glum environment, the company has to compete for resumes. "The market's not completely dead out here. Midsized software companies are still hiring, and some startups, too."

Both Gateway and Apple Computer declined to comment for this story. Earlier this year Gateway announced layoffs of about 3,000 employees. Taking a page from that PC maker, Apple this month began rolling out a string of retail outlets to boost market share for its Mac line. The first two stores opened in Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Va., and in the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, Calif., with 23 more to come this year and more in 2002.

Apple says the two stores took in nearly $600,000 in merchandise sales over the first weekend of business, prompting Steve Jobs, the company's chief executive officer, to gush in a press release: "We are blown away with the numbers. More importantly, customers have told us they love everything about the store — from the knowledgeable sales staff to the Genius Bar to the store's design and unique approach to presenting digital lifestyle solutions."

Despite announcing layoffs of some 5,700 employees this month, Dell Computer (Round Rock, Texas) continues to post a bundle of product development jobs on its Web site. The company, for example, is looking for a video development engineer with a "demonstrated qualification engineering background in video or multimedia," preferably one to two years, or who has similar device qualification or test experience in a peripheral development environment. Applicants should have a BSEE or BSCE. "Technical problem-solving skills are a must, as is skill in using standard analysis tools, such as scopes and bus analyzers."

Dell is also seeking a wireless LAN engineer with "experience working with suppliers and setting product delivery expectations, as well as working on problems where detailed engineering analyses of data are used to influence design improvements for both hardware and firmware. This position requires strong failure analysis skills, which include learning how to use test equipment. The ideal candidate should have a BS/MS in electronic or computer engineering with one-plus years of relevant industry experience. The candidate must be capable of electrical design evaluation and qualification of personal-computer LAN adapters."

Dell also has an opening for a system engineer with a BSEE or MSEE and experience "designing complex system boards, including motherboards, hard-drive backplanes, I/O boards, and have prior experience leading and mentoring other engineers in the board-design effort.

"Experience should include proficiency at schematic capture and in-depth knowledge of personal-computer and server system architectures. Engineers should also have prior experience working with CAD, electrical simulation, electrical safety and electromagnetic interference groups. Hands-on knowledge of debugging tools including analyzers and scopes is required," as is proficiency with the PCI bus architecture and host-bus architecture.