How are staffing/recruiting firms feeling the impact of the current recession and unemployment level?

“Two types of consultants are there, one perceive this economic slowdown as the worst hit on their business and try to take extreme measures to cut down the expenses, the term "over heads" & the term "cost per seat" are very frequently spelled, in some cases consultants are more scared than ever & it seems they are more pessimistic, when we intervene and say the nightmare will be over soon, and if we try to say there are alternative ways to counter down the economic crisis they fail to understand, and their repeated remarks show they are traumatized of the financial crunch. People thinking they are playing a safe game they go for home based recruiters, and freelance business development people, they fail to understand business development is not a magical phenomenon; it needs to be done properly with delivery. In HR industry sales is not a one time business, it should be backed with competent delivery, unless it is monitored by the BDM guy directly he might hard to sell his product. The misconception of the people in business clearly states their inexperience in the industry.”