Thing is:
People talked just like this after 9-11.
Exact same "doom and gloom" rhetoric.
History is repeating itself.
Thing is there will be another hiring period at some point in the future. I would put money on it unless you take the position that the industry is in a permanent decline, which is unlikely unless Peak Oil turns out to be real.
The most important important question is how many years away in the next major hiring cycle.
My guess based on the cycles I've seen before: two or three.