The state of IT business/jobs in the US is quite confusing. You have got two points of view and it is becoming very hard to either reconcile them or choose the more realistic view.
The Optimist's View
On one side, you have those who claim that it is an information age and will remain so for the foreseeable future. So, the demand for IT workers would grow along with their wages.
BusinessWeek says technology (including IT) is where the jobs are. It says that the number of tech grad is declining while the economy keeps creating more and more tech jobs. The result would be a rich IT job market for new grads and veterans alike.
The Pessimist's View
IT Jobs are on the decline.
InforWorld cites the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to report that almost 50,000 IT jobs have already been lost in the last 12 months, mainly because of the economic slowdown.
ComputerWeek reports that IT jobs will drop in 2009. As the economy slumps, companies are trying to cut costs by laying off anybody they could. Unfortunately for IT people, their jobs are increasingly amenable for automation and that makes them easier to lay off during hard times.
Of course, there is the issue of outsourcing that has resulted in many IT jobs being contracted to people in India.
To make thing worse, IT workers are getting fatter. Could it be the sitting around or the worries about job insecurity that are contributing to 34% of IT workers gaining 10+lbs in their current job? Hmmmm
The Bottomline: I personally find it hard to reconcile these two views. My inclination is to believe the pessimists a little more than the optimists. With every innovation in the IT world, the ability of companies to rely on a cheap labor force in India will increase. Many innovations increase the productivity of an IT worker, hence decreasing the necessity of others in the field as well as newcomers. The knowledge requirements for IT workers will increase as people are expected to hold a large set of responsibilities. Those who don't pass the knowledge threshold and/or adapt to a quickly changing environment will find themselves on the outside looking it.
The Optimist's View
On one side, you have those who claim that it is an information age and will remain so for the foreseeable future. So, the demand for IT workers would grow along with their wages.
BusinessWeek says technology (including IT) is where the jobs are. It says that the number of tech grad is declining while the economy keeps creating more and more tech jobs. The result would be a rich IT job market for new grads and veterans alike.
What does all this mean? There's still a labor shortage in tech. And if you took Economics 101, you know that's good news for paychecks. Already, tech wages are 87% higher, on average, than in the rest of the private-sector job market. Tech wages are also growing faster, by an average of 4% a year—double the 2% reported for private industry as a whole. And in Austin, San Diego, and Sacramento, Calif., tech salaries tend to be twice what they are for private-sector jobs generally.
More than 850,000 IT jobs will be added during the 10-year period ending in 2016, which would be a rise of 24%. Add all the jobs that will replace retiring workers, and the total increase could be a tidy 1.6 million. That means one job in every 19 created over the course of the next decade will be in technology.People like Bill Gates are advocating reform in the US education system that is not attracting many locals into the sciences and graduating less and less of them. As a plan to increase competitiveness and provide a capable labor force for American companies, they are also pushing for a more lax immigration policy when it comes to skilled workers. As a foreigner, I like this picture and its implications on immigration policy.
The Pessimist's View
IT Jobs are on the decline.
InforWorld cites the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to report that almost 50,000 IT jobs have already been lost in the last 12 months, mainly because of the economic slowdown.
ComputerWeek reports that IT jobs will drop in 2009. As the economy slumps, companies are trying to cut costs by laying off anybody they could. Unfortunately for IT people, their jobs are increasingly amenable for automation and that makes them easier to lay off during hard times.
Of course, there is the issue of outsourcing that has resulted in many IT jobs being contracted to people in India.
To make thing worse, IT workers are getting fatter. Could it be the sitting around or the worries about job insecurity that are contributing to 34% of IT workers gaining 10+lbs in their current job? Hmmmm
The Bottomline: I personally find it hard to reconcile these two views. My inclination is to believe the pessimists a little more than the optimists. With every innovation in the IT world, the ability of companies to rely on a cheap labor force in India will increase. Many innovations increase the productivity of an IT worker, hence decreasing the necessity of others in the field as well as newcomers. The knowledge requirements for IT workers will increase as people are expected to hold a large set of responsibilities. Those who don't pass the knowledge threshold and/or adapt to a quickly changing environment will find themselves on the outside looking it.
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