1/8/2003 -- In a report released last month, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) said that despite a significant drop in hiring, the U.S. IT workforce is stabilizing thanks to an even bigger decrease in layoffs.

According to the ITAA, only 1.18 million IT positions were filled between between Oct. 2001 and Oct. 2002 , as compared to more than 2 million during the 12 months between Jan. 2001 and Jan. 2002. But hiring outpaced layoffs, with only 844,0000 tech workers laid off during those 12 months, as compared to 2.6 million during 2001.

"Both hiring and dismissals are far below January numbers, which may signal a stabilization of the IT workforce after the roller coaster of the recent year," commented ITAA President Harris Miller.

In fact, the IT industry actually grew over the last quarter. According to the quarterly update of the ITAA's annual workforce survey, the IT industry gained 147,000 jobs in the third quarter of 2002, bringing the total size of the workforce 10,123,000. However, the news isn't good for everyone -- while most IT areas are seeing slight to moderate gains, demand for network administrators has dropped eight percent since the beginning of 2002.

The ITAA is an industry association that promotes public policy, research and networking for IT industry organizations. More information about the study and the ITAA can be found here. - B.N.