Skip the navigation

Exporting IT Jobs

By Thomas Hoffman and Patrick Thibodeau
April 28, 2003 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - The writing is on the wall. If you are a programmer or an application developer, or work on the IT help desk or in data center operations, your IT job is in jeopardy, and here's why.


In an unrelenting push to lower IT costs, more and more companies are tapping cheaper offshore labor to handle routine tasks such as application maintenance and help desk support functions. Even companies that farm out IT work under pay-as-you-go and other hosted computing models to U.S. outsourcers—such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co.—are contributing to the loss of jobs, because these domestic service providers are also shipping IT work abroad. IBM Global Services, for example, is India's fifth-largest employer.


By 2015, 3.3 million white-collar jobs—472,632 of them in IT and mathematics—and $136 billion in wages are expected to move offshore to countries like Russia, India, China and the Philippines, according to a November 2002 report by Forrester Research Inc. analyst John C. McCarthy.


In March, 212,000 U.S. computer and mathematical professionals were unemployed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Looking ahead, Meta Group Inc. analyst Maria Schafer predicts that up to 50% of U.S. IT employees could shift to contract work by 2007, as outsourcing in all forms continues to increase and as more salaried U.S. IT employees opt to work as contractors to take advantage of the flexible schedules and the opportunity to work on a variety of projects.


Some industry experts draw an analogy between the thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs that were sent overseas 20 to 30 years ago and the impact that offshore outsourcing is now having on U.S. IT jobs. Still, there are subtle but important differences between the two. Among them is that the forces behind the shrinking IT workforce go beyond companies seeking lower costs. IT managers are also struggling to strike a balance between the skills they want to have in-house on salary and the talent they can contract for on an as-needed basis.





What do you think about the trend to export IT jobs? Post your opinions and see what others have to say in our discussion forum.




"It's not just about low cost. CIOs are interested in specialization and reliability," says Mark Hauser, CEO of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young's Americas division. Going forward, CIOs say they want a different mix of skills. They want their salaried IT employees to include experienced project managers and business/IT liaisons who can effectively communicate and broker IT project requirements between business units and IT departments.



Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Outsourcing White Papers
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
Streamline Compliance and Increase ROI
Streamline, simplify, and automate compliance related activities; especially those that impact multiple business units. This white paper from NetIQ, outlines solutions that will...
X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps
This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into...
All Outsourcing White Papers
Outsourcing Webcasts
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn...
Virtualize Business-Critical Applications with Confidence
Virtualizing business-critical applications has become a key focus for organizations as they move along their virtualization journey. With the launch of VMware vSphere®...
All Outsourcing Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs