Apparently the economy in the States is worse than I thought.
A recent article at Wired says that a group of now-unemployed journalists from ZDNet are attempting to attract bids for their services. I see this is not the first time laid-off professionals have done so.
Here in Japan, we are just beginning to see some companies (Nissan being a noteworthy example) gradually pulling away from the seniority-based promotions and lifetime employment concepts that have long been two of Japanese society’s sacred cows. This is being done reluctantly—but also inevitably, because the economy in Japan is not good, either—but somehow I don’t think Japanese professionals are ready to subject themselves to the indignities of being bid upon. 
In particular, I know that local translation professionals like Bill Lise and Fred Uleman regularly advise others to set their sights on comfortably high fees, which might not be obtainable under the bid-for-geeks system. Fred knows that finding a job is less important than finding work, but I wonder what he would think of letting others bid on his rates.
Incidentally, this geek is always looking for freelance work. Care to place a bid?