Career Watch

Computerworld - High-Tech Bust

The economy may be bouncing back, but the IT job market is lagging behind. So says "America's High Tech Bust," a September 2004 report from the Center for Urban Economic Development of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Authors Snigdha Srivastava and Nik Theodore found that the discrepancy between the rapidly growing economy and the sluggish labor market is especially pronounced in the IT industry.

Nationally, between March 2001 and April 2004, the last month for which data was available, the IT industry lost a whopping 403,300 jobs, 200,300 of which disappeared after the recession was officially declared over, according to the report.

While there isn't much current and reliable information on the extent of job losses resulting from offshore outsourcing, there is little doubt that it has contributed to soaring unemployment rates in the industry, the report states.

To support that contention, the authors point out that the national unemployment rate for computer programmers, one of the top jobs sent offshore according to the Information Technology Association of America, was 6.7% in 2003, up from 2.5% in 2001.

Despite recent growth in the aggregate number of new jobs per month, there is little evidence of significant job expansion in the IT industry, the report concludes.

IT Industry Employment Nationwide And in Key Metropolitan Areas NATION BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO MARCH 2001 2,146,800 71,200 63,400 54,900 MARCH 2002 1,876,700 55,500 54,200 33,100 MARCH 2003 1,763,700 48,700 49,100 29,500 MARCH 2004 1,744,000 46,700 47,300 27,900 APRIL 2004 1,743,500 46,900 47,000 28,000 Source: “America’s High Tech Bust,” Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, September 2004

Indian Skills Gap

Many experts say the U.S. faces a looming IT skills gap over the next decade, but we're not alone. India's booming IT sector faces a skills shortage that could cost that country nearly half its lead in the outsourcing market, according to a report from The Associated Press.

The AP quoted a study by the National Association of Software and Services Companies, India's top IT association, projecting a shortage of 262,000 IT professionals by 2012. Kiran Karnik, president of Nasscom, said the group has begun talks with IT firms, universities and the Indian government about improving curricula to prepare students for outsourcing and IT research jobs, the AP said.

Apparently, the missing skills are not just technical. Karnik suggested that introducing foreign language and communications skills would help close the gap.

The Nasscom report follows research by Gartner Inc. predicting that unless India devises a long-term strategy to keep ahead of the outsourcing pack, emerging efforts in Thailand, Malaysia, Fiji, Mauritius, the Czech Republic, Poland and South Africa could chip away almost half of its current 80% share of the market.