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IT workers still in great demand in the US

Ela Dutt
India Abroad Correspondent in New York

Despite the economic downturn in the information technology sector, IT jobs in the US are going abegging, according to a leading research organisation.

The Information Technology Association of America recently warned people not to rely on perceptions, anecdotes and darkened screens of many dotcom businesses and employees to confirm their suspicions about a bad job market.

"Despite the experience of individual companies, the US requirement of a steady supply of new IT workers continues," says ITAA in a recent report, though it concedes that the demand has diminished.

The study says companies hope to add 900,000 IT workers to their rolls this year alone and of this 450,000 slots will go unfilled because of lack of applicants with the requisite technical and non-technical skills. The US has a national IT workforce of 10.4 million.

Last year, ITAA conducted a similar study titled 'Bridging the Gap'. That research projected a 12-month demand for IT workers of 1.6 million and a shortfall of approximately 850,000. This study explains how the employment picture has changed.

In response to a variety of factors, companies appear ready to rein in their hiring plans and proceed cautiously, but nobody is freezing recruitment.

"This trend suggests that candidates should sharpen their professional focus in building skills and seeking work."

Sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges, American Management Systems, Cisco, Hall Kinion, Intel, ITT Educational Services, Knowledge Workers, Microsoft and SRA International, the study results are based on 685 telephone interviews with recruitment managers.

Respondents were selected at random and the sample can be projected to represent all US for-profit companies with more than 50 employees.

This study is composed of interviews with 191 IT companies and 494 non-IT companies, representing one out of every 70 IT companies and one out of every 600 non-IT companies of this size in the country. Results have a sampling variability of +/- 3.1 per cent at the 90 per cent confidence level.

Today more than 10.4 million people in the US are IT workers. This number does not include jobs in government, not-for-profit organisations or small entrepreneurial firms.

"Information technology employment remains at the forefront of the US economy, directly accounting for approximately 7 per cent of the nation's workforce," the report says.

While the demand for IT workers is down 44 per cent from 2000, a fact no doubt attributable to the slowdown in the high-tech sector and the economy in general, "the drop in demand does not reflect a fall in IT employment, which will increase year-to-year."

However, the "talent gap" for IT workers remains large, although substantially less than 2000.

Recruitment managers report an anticipated shortfall of 425,000 IT workers to fill their openings. Last year, ITAA found a shortage of approximately 850,000 workers -- or twice the current total.

Non-IT companies remain the larger employer of IT workers with 9.5 million on their rolls.

In aggregate terms, non-IT companies employ ten times more IT workers than do IT companies.

Not a surprising result as this study finds a total of 305,835 non-IT companies in the US with over 50 employees, compared to 13,842 IT companies with over 50 employees. This means 22 non-IT companies exist for every one IT company in the US.

Technical support people remain most in demand by IT and non-IT companies alike - one-fourth of all new positions over the next 12 months. Even so, this report finds substantial downturn of at least 65 per cent.

Last year, recruitment managers cited a need for three times as many technical support personnel as the next closest category -- programming/software engineering. This year paints a demand picture much more evenly spread over several job categories.

Four-year college degrees proved most helpful in getting jobs in database development/administration, enterprise systems, programming/software engineering and technical writing. Private technical schools pulled the highest marks for network design/administration and digital media. Certificates acquired through a vendor or industry remain of moderate importance for recruitment managers.

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