2002 was already past the dot com bomb, but as for 2008 recession, SURELY getting a custom dev job in 2008 was easier than now, and in 2009... well maybe about as hard as now.
The dot com bomb wasn’t bad if you didn’t limit your job search to the remnant of tech companies. I had 4 years of experience in 2000 living in Atlanta and was a Microsoft developer. I was getting offers left and right from boring old profitable companies like banks, insurance companies, Coke, Delta, etc.