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Rapleaf's Auren Hoffman says that hiring is harder in a downturn because the noise goes up but the quality stays the same. That's a pretty strong statement to make, but if it's true then it's all the more remarkable to see which companies are making hires now.

Our site ReadWriteHire covers new hires in tech and new media. Today we're publishing our aggregate numbers for the first 3 months of 2009. Who's hiring? Software and IT companies, social media and social networking companies and marketing and advertising firms.

With all the talk of the financial turmoil that the U.S. economy is experiencing, some industries are hoping that they can escape the heat unscathed. In fact, a small portion of the tech industry practically bragged that they wouldn't encounter the same damage as Wall Street by attempting to recruit jobless stock brokers for their start-ups. This week may have put the tech industry on alert with the rest of the U.S. as two relatively high profile tech companies made grand changes to their staff.

There are times when I wonder if there's something wrong with the fact that I anticipate, say, the next Macworld keynote or big Google announcement more than, say, my own birthday.

But then I get distracted by a cool new web application, and the feeling goes away.

Since moving to New York from London in 1990, I have become a firm convert to the idea that New York is the center of the universe. London, Paris, Berlin, Mumbai are all pretty great, but if you like cities, New York is it. So it has always been a source of frustration for me - and other New Yorkers - that our great city is such a slouch when it comes to high tech startups compared to boring suburbs like San Jose and Palo Alto, and even provincial towns such as Boston and Austin. Well, I finally figured out the problem. It's called Wall Street.