A Sign Of The TimesA Sign Of The Times

Bay Area IT workers who are pounding the pavement looking for jobs might want to trek over to the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco's Moscone Center Dec. 2 -7. Employment-search Web site operator Monster.com will set up its mobile unit at the show, giving job hunters the chance to surf the Net for work. Oracle will offer free day passes to anyone who wants to visit the exhibition, which includes Monster.com and some 300 other exhibitors.

A cynic might say that Oracle is trying to boost traffic at its show--matching last year's attendance figure of 82,000 might be tough with the slumping economy and peoples' reluctance to travel following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But with the unemployment rate for IT workers hovering around 5% in recent months, any opportunity to network is sure to be welcomed by Silicon Valley's unemployed techies.