Where is the buzz?

The clock is nearing 4.00 pm on a seemingly normal working day. Usually this is the time when you can hear murmuring and there is a spike in activity. People get up from their workstations to take a 10 minute break, head to the tea/coffee machine or a quick bite.
Why is it so quiet then, of late? Where is the usual drone? Where are the people?
There have been talks of a slowdown for a good over 6 months now. We frequently hear the news of layoffs in Organization ‘A’, shutdown of Org ‘B’. Till now, these are ‘news’ for me, terms that I have heard a few years earlier as well.
Suddenly people from around my work area go missing…
People who you travel with to work, who you chat with everyday and sometimes just wave or smile at are not to be seen at the office.
This is when reality strikes – and badly at that.
Maybe this is one disadvantage of globalization, or maybe not. The economies of the world are now so inter-related that some downfall in one part of the world has ripple effect across!
Not that I understand finance or economy in the slightest, these are just my thoughts. So rather than state some incorrect ideas, it will do best if I restrain my ponderings and leave this at that…
Some questions still do bother me though. How long before life gets back to normal here at the office?