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We are bombarded from all sides with news of recession, job losses and economic downturn and it is natural to question our security within the organization and the job or project that we are involved in.  Now is not necessarily the time to panic, but there are some things that developers can do to increase the likelihood that they will be sitting in the same desk over the coming months - you may not be able to influence the bigger picture of the project or organization, but you can make sure that you are adding value and are perceived to be adding value.

Below are a few tips specifically for developers - other professionals will have to look elsewhere.  I have no authority in this area and if you want official career advice, please speak to someone qualified, like your HR department.  I provide this list from experience of the ups and downs of the IT market and am sure that if you action these items you increase your likelihood of hanging around. 

1. Understand Who Is Paying for Your Time : These tips apply for a developer working for a consulting house, a permanent employee at a large corporate or an individual contractor - it is just the precise definition of what a 'customer' is that changes.  The customer is the stakeholder that ultimately foots the bill for the time that you spend at work - it could be another organization, a business unit or even an individual.  It is a well known technique in sales to understand who key influencers are and who writes the cheques, so spend a few minutes finding out (more or less) who writes the cheques.
2. Focus on the Deliverable : While your personal career objectives may involve learning some cool and new technology, customers under budgetary pressure are less inclined to share your enthusiasm.  Pragmatic development may be the order of the day rather than spending time going off and learning a new framework or library.  In some cases it may be required architecturally, but should not be confused with your desire to play with new toys.  You can (and should) play with the new stuff on your own time.
3. Understand Expectations :  Spending two weeks coding up something only to discover when it is reviewed that there was a misinterpretation cannot simply be blame managed.  When the cash is tight it doesn't matter who is to blame, only that money was wasted on you.  Make sure that you check, with your team leader or PM or user or customer or even all of them to make sure that everyone is clear about what is expected of you.  This may be quite easy in an agile/scrum environment when you get the opportunity every day to make it clear - so take advantage of the daily stand-ups to make sure that everyone knows what you are up to.
4. Be Productive : It is easy to get into a rut of 'research', blog reading, MSDN browsing and other things that you think are important.  If you are spending time not coding, make sure that there is a real deliverable that it relates to and always try and check off the time that you are spending on the Internet against your deliverables.  You may find out that you gain an hour a day from saving on emails and blog reading.
5. Record Your Time in Detail : Never mind the official time recording system that you are supposed to use - it is probably only useful for billing purposes.  Find a way to track your own time against deliverables, and it keeps you on your toes - if you record your time in detail it is surprising how difficult it is to get 8 coding hours a day in.  It is only when you record all your interruptions, help browsing and other non coding tasks that you realise how it affects your productivity.  Be prepared at a moments notice to be pulled in to a review of your time from some arbitrary point in the past.
6. Work With Users : Users are the primary interface to the customer and working with them goes a long way to greasing the wheels of your perceived value.  If the users like you and feel that you are knowledgeable, helpful and approachable then if the axe starts swinging they will be in your corner.  Having users on your side is the best goodwill to have in the bank - besides, ultimately it is your job to keep them happy anyway.
7. Identify Opportunities : Developers are at the machine-business interface and are the best positioned to identify the effort required to make changes or additions to the system.  There may be a valuable feature, from a business perspective, that would only take you a day or two to implement - but you are never asked because people are afraid to ask.  Become the idea person on the project - spend a day on a weekend slapping together, say, a view of the data integrated into Excel, or a mobile phone view of a transaction.  You will be seen as someone participating in the solution and may find that your project is extended to allow the new ideas to be implemented.  If you work for a consulting type firm, find out who the account manager is and ping off short little emails of potential opportunities - at the very least it gives the account manager an excuse to come on site, which is never a bad thing.
8. Don't Drag Your Feet : Developers mostly work on project work - that is work that has a definite beginning and end.  If you think about it, your job is to code yourself out of work - you are paid to get things done and move on.  So don't drag your feet or take longer just because it pays the bills - get finished and get going on the next thing.  Customers like this attitude and if there is budget available they will not let 'Mr. Delivery' out the door.
9. Pick Up a Fashionable Skill : The last thing you want to do is clutch on to your project and stagnate - if the project does end you may find yourself out of sync with the needs in the market.  Find something in your technical niche that interests you, but make sure though that it is something relevant and talked about.  Have a look at the latest conference proceedings from your chosen technology stack and scratch around - get on the CTP of the latest product that they are punting.  You may find that you have the perfect set of skills for which there is a high demand when the product is released (regardless of macro-economic factors)
10. Make a Noise : Tweet, Blog, edit the company wiki, write a white paper, answer questions on forums, paint some graffitti on a wall - find something and somewhere that you can make a noise about what you do, who you are and what you are passionate about.  You will be surprised at how decisions are made about your career without you even knowing about them, never mind your consultation.  Make sure that you have some control by being part of the conversation.
11. Add Value :  Remember that we are all temporary employees - we are only employed as long as we are adding value.  Know where you add value and know the person that acknowledges that value - someone who is considered valuable is unlikely to be chased away.

Any other ideas?  Add some in the comments, this can't be all of them.

Simon Munro