I saw this earlier and thought I’d share it with everyone.  It speaks to upcoming layoffs at Microsoft, and some of the reasons behind them. 

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/microsoft-said-to-announce-job-cuts-as-soon-as-this/article_080ff0b2-6024-5735-8655-f95a60d333a9.html

One thing that impressed me about the article was how detailed it was about what roles were getting let go.  While it seems like most roles didn't go unscathed, testers were specifically identified as being released because in many cases, it makes sense for developers to do their own testing.  For those of you who have been following Agile, this goes back to the convergence of development and testing activities that a lot of people (myself included) have been talking about and can be argued is a byproduct of adopting the Agile software development methodology.

Is it a safe bet to dispense with testing and the skilled testers that perform it?  I don't think so - good testers provide a disciplined and impartial review of the application under test and can be invaluable to an organization.  But in the long term, can people expect to make a living soley as testers in an Agile environment?  Probably not.

If you're a tester (and without regard to what type of environment you work in), you'll want to broaden your horizons by picking up additional skillsets (BA, Developer, DBD / DBA, Build Engineering, etc), in addition to maintaining your testing skillset.  By doing so, will you demonstrate the type of versatility needed not only to look attracitve to new employers, but also to surivive layoffs if things go south.