Replies

Everyone in the IT industry who is paying attention knew there was something fishy in these numbers. I think this guy has it nailed...

I guess all those grads looking to bring their dog to work are going to have to learn to like cube farming.

For instance, why will a half-million jobs go unclaimed for lack of qualified workers when there are more than a half-million IT workers out of jobs? Is it because the skills required by IT organizations are so new that there is a lack of truly qualified individuals? Or is it because it is more expedient in this employment market to merely pick and choose the expertise that your organization needs, consume that expertise within a few company projects, and then cast the employee to the wind to fend for himself while the company continues on choosing the next set of skills that are needed?

It's because IT companies prefer to fill job-slots with low-wage H-1B applicants, regardless of skill level.

For instance, why will a half-million jobs go unclaimed for lack of qualified workers when there are more than a half-million IT workers out of jobs? Is it because the skills required by IT organizations are so new that there is a lack of truly qualified individuals? Or is it because it is more expedient in this employment market to merely pick and choose the expertise that your organization needs, consume that expertise within a few company projects, and then cast the employee to the wind to fend for himself while the company continues on choosing the next set of skills that are needed?

The latter. Working the expense side of the ledger in IT is an unstable brook. Companies are overlevered and executives still are pulling millions in cash out of companies. What to do? Squeeze vendors and employees for all every dime you can get out of them.

I'm a software contracter. Starting around October of 2000, the IRS changed the rules for software, and I had to do a more detailed breakdown in my billing. Designing and developing new software was now a capital expenditure (and as such would have to be amortized over a period of years)

This increased the tax impact to companies that were developing software for internal use. Coincidently, this was also the point in time when the IT field started to go down the tunes.

Everyone in the IT industry who is paying attention knew there was something fishy in these numbers. I think this guy has it nailed...

The yearly quota for H1-Bs is scheduled to fall from 195,000 to 65,000 next year. The ITAA is starting to hype this fictional "recovery" in the job market to keep, if not increase, the 195,000 level.

Congress will have another midnight voice vote to keep the level up, mark my words. Unemployed or ex- IT workers will have no influence on the process. The ITAA will channel another $40 million to the scum in Congress, and it will be all over.

http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,71171,00.html

SBC to cut 5,000 jobs

Date: MAY 14, 2002
Author:

Telecommunications giant SBC Communications Inc. said today it will cut 5,000 jobs this quarter, citing the continued slowdown in the economy and stiff governmental regulations not faced by its competitors.

San Antonio-based SBC said the cuts, which will be completed by the end of June, will involve employees in the management and nonmanagement levels in the 13 Midwestern and Southwestern states where it operates. The cuts won’t include employees who are directly involved in customer service, the company said in a statement.

SBC spokesman Selim Bingol said after the cuts are made, the company will employ about 185,000 people.

Bingol said SBC reduced its workforce by about 10,000 in the past two quarters. Last month, the company said it planned to cut 4,000 jobs over the last three quarters of 2002.

“We accelerated [that plan] and increased the amount,” he said.

SBC President William Daley said the soft economy and regulations that SBC’s competitors don’t have to face combined to force the company to cut expenses and jobs.

Bingol said local telephone companies like SBC are discouraged from investing in new infrastructure or new jobs because they must then open up their high-speed DSL lines to competing Internet service providers. However, their major competitors, cable companies, aren’t required to comply with those regulations.

Frank Louthan, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla., said that all the major telecommunications companies are continuing to suffer from the slowdown in the economy as well as from the governmental regulations, which, he agreed, discourage them from rolling out new infrastructure.

Louthan said companies like SBC aren’t likely to see an improvement until enterprises start to do more hiring and more IT spending.