Final Tally: IT Lost 250,000 Jobs Last Year

The U.S. tech industry lost about 250,000 jobs last year, about 4% of its total workforce, but is seeing signs of a hiring turnaround, particularly in software services, according to TechAmerica, an industry group.

Phil Bond, TechAmerica's president and CEO, said that among the things his group is seeking from Congress to help improve the tech business climate overall is an extension of the research and development tax credit, which is "grievously overdue."

Without this tax credit, "we are de facto encouraging the outsourcing of innovation around the world," Bond said. A number of other countries, including Canada, have more generous provisions in their R&D tax credit programs than the U.S., he said.

The group is also urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to move ahead on its health IT programs. Bond said health IT "will require tens of thousands" of new highly skilled workers and will have "a very positive, stimulative effect" on job creation.

I’ve been in the business since 1969. I wouldn’t recommend any young American to get into the field today.

It was once a well paid field, but today I actually make 1/3 less than I did in 2001. Outsourcing and green card carriers have ruined it.

Let me see, China and India???!!!! Knew a guy in my church ten years back. He told me he would be out of country for one year. ATT decided to help the Chinese write software for a cell phone system in Shanghai. I asked him does he realize once the Chinese learn to write and maintain the system software, his software division would be out of a job. He told me he had no choice. Since he was from China and he can speak Mandarin fluently, his boss chose him. If he had refused, he would be on the office shitlist for the next round of layoffs. Surely enough within five years after teaching the Chinese, ATT closed his division laying off over 50 IT/software engineers. Problem is not lack of government investments and tax breaks, the problem is the corporate leadership who does not realize the Chinese and Indians do not have an open two way street on technology. Once they learn to do it, they will turn all the business over to their own and shut the Americans out. Corporate leaders care only about short term profit and forget that they need a nation to live in and protect them. The day were big companies can screw Americans are over, because the American citizen can vote in politicians to screw the big companies. Has corporate America had enough of Obama or do they need more nightmares like Obama before they can figure it out??????

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