Productivity isn't just up...it's waaaaaaaaaay up. It really can't go up
anymore...which means even the the pessimists will be needing to hire
additional people soon.

Productivity has gone up while employment has declined. Why would further
increases in productivity necessarily require corresponding increases in
employment?

We're not producing more stuff -as much as we are producing a little less stuff
with a whole lot less people. That goes down as a productivity "gain" based on
efficiency, but doesn't do much to increase the base of overall wealth.