Yeah 2008 was much worse than today, effecting all sectors and all industries, especially anything related to the real estate industrial complex.

In my opinion, things in software engineering are stagnant right now. No doubt there was a significant downturn in 2023-2024. At least at the moment no one really seems to be hiring.

I was working through those times and share that sentiment. 2000 was apparently bad for Silicon Valley in particular, but, being outside of that, I don't remember any noticeable effects. 2008 was the App Store gold rush. That was quite possibly the best time in tech I have seen despite what was going on the non-tech economy.