ITAA Study: Demand for U.S. Tech Workers at Historic Low
5/14/2003 -- The 2003 IT Workforce Study released earlier this month by the Information Technology Association Association (ITAA) found that demand for IT workers in the U.S. has dropped to "historic lows."
Based on surveys of 400 IT and non-IT companies throughout the US, the organization predicts that employers will be hiring only 493,000 IT workers during the next 12 months down from 1.6 million at the start of 2000 and less than one-half of the 1.1 million positions predicted needed at the start of 2002.
Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed said they thought hiring demand would stay the same or decline over the next twelve months.
The ITAA also found that more positions are moving overseas, with 12% of IT companies and 3% of non-IT companies saying they have already opened up overseas operations. According to the study, large IT companies were most likely to say theyve made this move 22% have already moved work offshore. Additionally, 15% of IT firms say they will move, or are undecided about moving, jobs overseas in the next twelve months, while 4% of non-IT firms say the same.
The survey placed the size of the US IT workforce at 10.3 million, with hiring and terminations amounting to less-than-one-percent growth during first quarter of 2003, and the IT workforce growing by 86,000 -- 11,000 below the 97,000 in the slowest quarter of 2002.
Other findings of this year's study include:
- IT companies in the Midwest and West are most likely to send jobs overseas.
- Seventy four percent of companies say they have not changed compensation for IT workers in the past twelve months. Of companies taking action, only 8% lowered pay.
- 91% of companies were able to meet or exceed their hiring plans in 2002. For non-IT companies, both hiring and terminations were down roughly 25% in the last twelve months.
- IT companies appear to be more likely to cut wages than non-IT companies.
If the demand for IT workers is an indicator of business growth, our survey results are not encouraging, commented ITAA President Harris N. Miller in a printed statement announcing the study findings. The fact that firms have dramatically scaled back force reductions may indicate that they are properly staffed to handle existing and new business. There are several bright points, such as companies adding technical support workers at the highest levels and the fact that most workers are not seeing pay cuts.
For more information or to download an executive summary of the study, visit ITAA.org.  - B.N.
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There are 106  user Comments for “ITAA Study: Demand for U.S. Tech Workers at Historic Low”
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| 5/21/03: Anonymous says: |
NO, HE'S A DUMB DORK !!! |
| 5/21/03: Christopher from New York says: |
People have to learn to separate the technical support (desktop, network, administrators) from the IT Professionals (people who can interpret business needs and design rich technical solutions around them). Those who depend on knowing a single technology, not understanding the basics of networking (OSI model, etc), and cannot determine the newest trends will be left behind. That is the nature of the business. Having an MCSE, CCNA, etc cannot hold weight against someone who can Architect a solution based on Management, Security, and Operations. Broaden your skills, keep abreast of the latest trends (Now its security and identity management), and you should be fine. |
| 5/21/03: Anonymous says: |
right on dude, nice post!!! |
| 5/21/03: Wilton from Chicago says: |
Unfortunately, it's too late for most of us to get back into the field. If you've been out for a year or more, start looking in another field. Your job is either overseas or integrated into someone else's responsibilities. For those still working, Christopher's advice should be heeded and acted upon. The ride was good while it lasted but it's time to move on. |
| 5/21/03: Greg from Colorado Springs, CO says: |
It really does not matter what country you are from or what color your skin is, what everyone wants is something better for their kids than what they have. Some folks have kept their jobs by increasing their education, some have taken our jobs because they have an education. However, it you pay a person outside the US a fraction of what a US worker is paid, they still have a hard time giving their children a better life. Then you have the CEO's and CFO's who leave a job and get more money the most of us will earn in our lifetimes. All the time they are laying off US workers and underpaying the folks that take their place. If folks in other countries were paid a "fair" wage, they would buy more computers, MS software, etc and we might ALL enjoy our lives more. It's when the CEO's get their fat bonuses and lay off thousands of US workers and hire slave labor to take those jobs that we ALL miss out. President Bush, don't be like your father. If the economy does not pick up real soon, I'll be voting for someone else! |
| 5/21/03: JACK from FLORIDA says: |
WHO DO YOU THINK AN UNEMPLOYED IT WORKER WILL VOTE FOR? WHY COMPANIES ARE LAYING OFF THEIR OLDER EMPLOYERS FIRST? WHY THERE IS NO STATE MONEY FOR RETRAINING AND THERE IS FOR WAR? WHAT WILL COMPANIES DO WITH THEIR TAX REDUCTIONS? CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN ALL THESE TO ME ....THANKS |
| 5/21/03: Anonymous says: |
...business and especially politics are never clean, never fair, never understandable, unexplainable, selfish, greedy, violent, etc...that's why... |
| 5/22/03: world traveller from Paris says: |
well my two cents is , damn follow the jobs , when i got my first cert back in 2000 (MCSE) it was starting to get hard , so i moved out to europe , now after 3 years out here and another 3 top level certs it is starting to get hard out here , i'm presently negotiating severage with my employer again(and out here it's brutal for employers he! he! roughly 30K and in euro not dead presidents) and once again i'll hit the road , i'm looking to finish my round world trip in HK and prospects are pretty good , and then i'll come back home with a resumé without any holes unlike most of us , international experience , LOTS of employer paid training and certs , international language skills ( i'm now fluent french and spanish (antive english ) and i've got a nice little settlement pay collection to buy myself a house when i get back , i am on the floor holding my ribs laughing my guts out |
| 5/22/03: Alizzah from Denver says: |
Why am I not surprised with all this Indian bashing. This classic "blame the foriegner" syndrome is nothing new. But I cant help but feel sorry for all these whiners. Going thru some of these postings may give you the impression that Indians are given priority over everyone else. People keep on mentioning the fact that each year thousands of people come to the USA under the H-1B program. What they fail to mention is the countless thousands who are leaving the US because of tough economic climate. The fact that you are unemployed for the past 2 years is not because an Indian took over your job, it is because there is no job to begin with. Dont make the past as a benchmark for the future. The past wasnt good, it was overvalued. Juniper was trading at $280 four years ago. Now it is $10. Whose fault is that. Is it because of the Indians. Everyone was out of touch with reality. Anderson were billing thier helpless clients $400 per hour for certain projects. Guess how much they actually paid the consultant: $35 per hour. They were making $365 per hour for doing what? In other cases there were three middlemen (contractors and subcontractors) who were taking 85% of the actual billing. What tangible value did they contribute to the overall process. Companies had little choice but to cough up these preposterous rates. English majors with one month of Oracle training were asking for $50,000 salary as entry level DBAs. With these kind of massive inefficiencies no wonder the bubble burst. Companies began realizing that for $30k they can get an experienced worker from India to do the same work. They no longer had to rely on the mercy of Anderson any more. And you have the audacity to tell me that that was unpatriotic. Like I said the past was not realistic, the past was on dope. Now that things have become more realistic, the blame game has begun. |
| 5/22/03: Jim from BaltimoreWashington corridor, MD says: |
More of a question than a comment: Does anybody know any steel workers, or automobile workers, or textile (clothing) workers that were put out of work when their respective industries moved offshore/overseas? It would be interesting to see if there was a pattern to what happened in those industries compared to what is happening now in the computer/IT fields. |
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