your boss actually acknowledges you with a 'good morning'. He's clearly under pressure as revenues have fallen away. He's worried he's vulnerable for the chop, so hopes that being nice to his staff (for once) will buy him some time.

You know it must be bad when on-site recruiters call recruitment firms in for quarterly performance reviews. During the good times, they were far too busy to bother with things like this. Now, they have to justify their existence.

You know it must be bad when on-site recruiters ask recruitment firms to provide copies of indemnity insurance and other documentation - even though agreements have been in place for years, and no-one's ever asked before. The idle are once again trying to keep themselves busy.

You know it must be bad when recruitment consultants start calling up HR departments, asking whoever answers the phone whether they had 'a good weekend' (as if they really give a sh.t!).

Please send us in any other examples of how folks change their behaviour when times get tough. Mail us using the 'comment on this story' button immediately below.

READER COMMENTS:

'You know it's bad when they start cancelling the bottled water!'.

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