Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

IT employment may be stabilizing after loss of 250,000 jobs

Signs of hope after nearly 12 months of steady job losses, but pay may be declining

The apparent turn in the U.S. economy may have put the brakes on the IT job loss freefall, according to some new data.

Since last November, IT employment has declined by nearly 250,000 jobs, or 6%, after peaking that month at 4.058 million jobs. However, only 1,100 jobs were lost in August, or a .03% decline, according to the TechServe Alliance, an Alexandria, Va.-based industry group that conducts an ongoing analysis of IT occupation data compiled by U.S.

Mark Roberts, CEO of the alliance, which represents IT services companies, consultants and staffing firms that will be among the first to hire out of a recession, said his member firms are indicating that they are expecting more work. IT employment losses began moderating in June.

"Folks are very optimistic about the future based on what they are hearing from their clients. They feel there is a lot of pent-up demand," Roberts said.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday that the U.S. economy grew by a 3.5% annual rate in the last quarter.

But IT employment is in a trough and so is the pay , according to David Foote, who heads Foote Partners LLC, a Vero Beach, Fla.-based research group that studies IT compensation. Foote said about two-thirds of IT workers have either seen their salaries go down or remain flat over the last year.

"The economy is having a huge impact on [employers] just having the freedom to pay what they want," Foote said.

Jobs board Dice.com reported 53,400 jobs posted Thursday, compared with 75,600 in November.

Nonetheless, Foote said there remain many IT skills that are increasing in value, especially in SAP and security.

Analysts aren't predicting a fast recovery. Research firm Gartner Inc. recently said IT spending wouldn't return to 2008 levels until 2012.

It's difficult to know the impact of IT consolidations on the job market, including layoffs associated with the pending acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc. by Oracle Corp. as well as last year's takeover of Electronic Data Systems Inc. by Hewlett-Packard Co., on the total labor market. Moreover, IT jobs continue to move overseas .

In sum, while there may be signs of a stabilizing IT job market, there is still a lot of ground to make up with this year's job losses as well as to make room for those entering the technology field. Foote said the volatility in IT pay is an indication that the hiring recovery will be a slow road.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: Electronic Data Systems, Foote Partners, Gartner, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, IBM Australia, Intel, Oracle, SAP, Sun Microsystems
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: careers, it management, Networking Management, outsourcing, services
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Restore control, Reinforce security & Reduce Cost
    Uncontrolled print environments and practices present a serious risk to the profit and security of your organisation. IT is under pressure to protect sensitive information, secure devices, and improve the way they manage the entire fleet. To gain better control, your organisation needs to implement plans that meet industry regulations while also increasing productivity, lowering costs, and providing users with more flexible imaging and printing solutions. Read more.
    Learn more »
  • The Need for DLP (data leak prevention) now
    When it comes to the terabytes of confidential and proprietary data on corporate networks, companies often use kid gloves to secure the data. This begs the question, why are office supplies subject to a higher level of security than the data? Many organisations are turning to a DLP solution to help them in gaining control over their seemingly uncontrolled data stores.
    Learn more »
  • Seven SOA Practices to Unlock Business Value
    The fact is that companies are increasingly using SOA to gain competitive business advantage. Distilled down to seven essential SOA practices, the following list enables IT professionals to tightly align SOA investments with their organization’s business priorities. Using these practices can help with driving competitive advantage and adding measurable business value...and that’s a sure way for IT pros to win recognition and ongoing support within their companies.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments