Study: IT worker confidence drops

Many U.S. tech employees report worsening personal finances

By Linda Rosencrance

October 8, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - IT workers in the U.S. aren't too happy about the state of the job market, according to a study released by New York-based staffing firm Hudson, a division of Hudson Highland Group Inc.
After a steady climb over the past four months, the Hudson Employment Index for IT workers fell 3.8 points, to 112.1 from 115.9 in August. The overall national Index fell 2.0 points, to 106.9 from 108.9 in August, according to the study. Data for the studies is collected from monthly telephone surveys with approximately 9,000 U.S. workers and tracks aggregate employment trends around career opportunities, hiring intentions, job satisfaction and retention.
The reason for the decline in the IT worker index is that in September, more IT workers said that their personal finance situation worsened and that they are unhappy in their current jobs, according to the study. In September, 39.6% of the 401 IT workers surveyed reported worsening finances compared with 33.3% in August.
Hudson's study comes on the heels of two other studies that also indicate that times are tough for IT workers. In September, a study conducted by the Center of Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois in Chicago found that the IT job market remains tight, with workers outnumbering jobs in many parts of the U.S.
And an IT employment report released last month by the Information Technology Association of America, a vendor group in Arlington, Va., concurred that while there was a slight (2%) increase in IT employment early this year, IT job growth is expected to slow for the rest of 2004 (see story).

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Additional Resources

Xerox

Win a color printer!

By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!

Microsoft

Upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 today.

Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.

Sybase

NEXT-GENERATION MOBILITY PLATFORMS

In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

White Papers & Webcasts

Natural User Interface for Enterprise Applications
Learn how a revolutionary user interface can make a complex enterprise application so intuitive even casual users can jump right in....

Usability Is Everything
Learn what sets Workday's HR and Payroll solutions apart from the competition....

A Truly Global HCM System
Learn about a system built with advanced object-oriented technology that support multi-national requirements and costs less to implement, maintain and upgrade....

The Value of Real SaaS at Workday
Cost savings, speed to value, and innovation brought to the enterprise by Workday's software-as-a-service solutions for HR and Payroll....

Craft a Strategy to Lower Your Total Cost of Ownership
Get the tools to build a business case to assess the total cost of ownership of your HR technology footprint....

SaaS at Flextronics, Inc.
Dave Smoley, CIO of Flextronics, discusses the real value of software-as-a-service and why he chose Workday for his HR solution....

Navigating the Economic Morass
Need help making your way through today's volatile job market? In this Learn-Fast Guide, you'll learn how and where to look for your...

Why Compliance Pays
This OnDemand webcast explores the relationship that firms with best compliance records have higher revenue, greater customer retention, lower financial losses from data...

Accelerate SSL Encrypted Applications
The amount of SSL traffic is growing in the enterprise. Because it is encrypted, it cannot be properly controlled and accelerated. Blue Coat...

Agile Enterprise Content Management (ECM) for Rapid ROI
Find out how combining ECM and BPM will help adress issues about content rich business processes....

All White Papers | All Webcasts