Dot-com layoffs are generally perceived of as bad news -- but not for the nation's nonprofits.
The steady stream of layoffs -- according to a recent survey, 9,533 more dot-commers were given pink slips in February -- means that many skilled, energetic potential workers who would previously shun a low-paying, do-gooder position at a non-profit are on the market, looking for something to do with themselves.
"I get unsolicited resumes for former dot-commers now, which is great. Of course, it's hard to know if they really want to give back to their communities or they're just desperate," said Rena Convissor, a vice president at the Center for the Advancement of Health, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that researches how different social and economic factors influence health and illness.
Then again, altruism isn't necessarily the best qualification for certain jobs in the nonprofit sector.
"Their creativity and computer skills are a true asset to a nonprofit, and things like developing a better website means that we can save money on mailings in the long run," Convissor said.
Joel Finkelstein, 29, is a good example of the kind of people these organizations are seeking. Convissor hired Finkelstein -- who was laid off in December by Oncology.com -- as a science writer; she said his experience at an Internet startup was a major plus.
Some nonprofits are aggressively reaching out to former dot-commers.
The Peace Corps, the 40-year-old government agency known for sending American volunteers to aid struggling third world nations, recently launched an ad campaign in San Francisco Bay Area newspapers that reads, "Dot-Com, Dot Gone? Now it's time to network with the real world: Peace Corps."
According to Dennis McMann, a Peace Corps recruiter in San Francisco, attendance figures at bimonthly informational meetings in that city are double what they were three years ago, during the dot-com boom.
After National Public Radio ran a spot on the San Francisco Peace Corps recruiting phenomena this week, the Dallas regional office received calls from those identifying themselves as former dot-commers in Texas, said Susan Buchanan, a Peace Corps spokeswoman at the organization's national headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"It makes sense that those laid off by dot-coms or tech startups are now finding jobs that allow them to do good," said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray and Christmas, who conducted the above survey. "After all, I think many of the young people who worked in the dot-com sector had a vision of building a better future via the Internet or high technology. So it shouldn't be a surprise that these youths are moving towards altruism."
While joining a nonprofit may be personally rewarding, the day-to-day isn't always easy for dot-commers used to top-of-the-line office equipment and cushy salaries.
"I still see typewriters in use around here, which is scary, and my salary is literally half of what it used to be," said twenty-something Reggie Cameron, a senior publicist at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Cameron joined the museum after being laid off from his position as marketing director at Rouze.com.
"We refugees from the dot-com craze have a lot of knowledge to share with nonprofits, and for once, we're not too busy watching CNNfn," said Cameron, who says he enjoys developing the museum's new media marketing campaign.
Still, he has a somewhat cynical view regarding the appeal of nonprofits.
"Working for a cause is a status symbol, and that really speaks to the dot-com generation," Cameron said.
Former dot-commers who left lucrative jobs before the shakeout amid skepticism from their peers are finding that the nonprofit route, once thought of as a risky career choice because of low pay and no stock options, may provide a more secure situation than any Internet startup ever could.
"I decided to leave my higher-paying Web master job at a software company for a nonprofit before the big dot-com crash because I wanted my job to have more purpose than making some middle-aged CEO even wealthier," said 25-year-old Danette St. Onge, manager of interactive media at the Exploratorium, a nonprofit science museum in San Francisco. "And I delighted in the fact that four out of five of the dot-com companies I interviewed at while considering the Exploratorium were bankrupt within a few months."
