Hundreds of IT professionals are losing their jobs as the multibillion-dollar Y2K-bug-monitoring industry faces collapse.
At the peak of demand, experts with a knowledge of old computer systems could fetch up to $3,000 a day fixing the bug, according to leading information technology agency Computer Recruitment Consultants.
Now, their contracts have expired and they are out looking for work.
'Most of these specialists were on short-term contracts. We made over 30 referrals in the past two years,' the agency's general manager, Sandra Tam Fung-lan, said.
'Now, not surprisingly, nobody is looking to hire people specialising in outdated systems.' According to Information and Software Industry Association vice-chairman Jeff Wat Kwok-leung, up to a third of people he interviewed for IT jobs had recently finished on Y2K projects.
'It was good business while it lasted but it was meant to be short-lived,' said Mr Wat, also managing director of software developer Top Domain.