[KillerGremlin]

I realize I didn't really answer the question well....I think my answer would be:

If companies can cut the IT Department down and successfully run the company, they will keep the IT Department small even if the economy picks up. This means downsizing of IT. I think long term sustainability is going to be compromised however. Eventually they are going to need to drop a ton of money into new servers, or new computers, or new infrastructure, and that will require more IT help. I think a lot of IT departments in companies would maintain the position that they "scrape by" or have periods of wayyyy too much work.

That would be the other caveat of IT. Some stretches (like weeks) have you sitting on your ass all day with nothing to do. And then some weeks are super busy and you don't have any free time. But isn't that how most jobs office jobs go? LOL.