This is true. A couple on my block are an architect, and a yoga instructor. Two very diverse income streams.
Now both are unemployed.
A guy I sold a web site to was one of those people who was big on diversity of income.
His portfolio covered everything from hotel services to restaurants to antiques restoration to a couple of small factories. All are closed. His diverse income is gone.
In software engineering, you don’t need “multiple income streams” to stay solvent. You just need a set of skills that are in sync with the market, good interviewing techniques, a strong network, and cash to tide you over and keep your expenses reasonable. This time is not a recession. It’s a true worldwide epidemic. But during “normal” recessions, if you have what I outlined above, someone somewhere will hire you at least as a contractor at some rate.
Of course if you overly specialized it might be harder.
The dot com bust wasn’t that bad if you were just a regular old enterprise developer working at a profitable company that wasn’t directly or indirectly dependent on VC money. Even in 2008, there were companies hiring hired gun contractors at lower rates.
During the last recession, I was a full time software engineer, a part time fitness instructor/personal trainer and had real estate holdings.
Guess how my alternate income streams worked out when no one was spending money? I sold off all of my rental real estate (in an area that still hasn’t recovered), I stopped trying to get personal fitness classes and scaled back teaching to just a “working hobby” and doubled down in software engineering, building skills and a network.
When the company I worked for finally did collapse in late 2010, I was able to get a couple of contracts until I found a full time gig.