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Study: IT worker unemployment at 'unprecedented' levels
Computer World ^ | SEPTEMBER 17, 2003 | Patrick Thibodeau

Posted on 09/18/2003 4:03:48 PM PDT by Mini-14

About 150,000 IT positions were lost in 2001 and 2002

SEPTEMBER 17, 2003 ( ) - DALLAS -- Unemployment for IT workers reached 6% this year, an "unprecedented" level for a profession that was once a sure path to a well-paying job, according to a new study that also found that foreign-born workers now account for a fifth of all IT employees in the U.S. The report also found that the percentage of laid-off foreign-born IT workers is slightly higher than for U.S.-born workers.

The study, which was presented at a congressional forum today by the Washington-based nonprofit group Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST), affirms what IT managers have seen in response to help-wanted ads. "I'm sure the number is 6% or higher," said Michael Russo, a data center manager at Wyeth, a Madison, N.J.-based pharmaceuticals giant.

A recent third-shift job in the company's operational data center drew 168 applicants. "There are a lot of people who are out of work," Russo said.

Randy Rosenthal, manager of computer operations at Southwest Securities Group Inc. in Dallas, has seen the same trend: highly qualified people with multiple degrees applying for jobs IT managers once had trouble filling. "That tells me that 6% has hit the IT area pretty hard," he said.

About 150,000 IT positions were lost in 2001 and 2002, about two-thirds of them in programming, the report said.

Two years ago, Phoenix-based water and electric utility Salt River Project had an open position for an operations analyst and received about 15 applications; last year, it posted a similar position and had 50 applicants. This year the 800,000-customer utility has a hiring freeze, said operations manager Dewayne Nelsen.

There was a sense of grim resignation about the latest report among some IT managers at a conference held here by AFCOM, an Orange, Calif.-based data center managers user group.

Several IT managers, some requesting that their names not be used, told of data center consolidations that led to layoffs or offshore plans. For the future, automation improvements and the development of "self-healing" applications will also hurt some IT career paths. The career advice from one IT manager was to avoid the technical aspects of the profession and focus more on IT management training.

IT unemployment rates were as low as 1.2% in 1997, shooting up to 4.3% in 2002.

But the overall number of IT jobs has seen remarkable growth, tripling in the past 20 years, according to the CPST, which conducts labor force and educational research for a range of scientific organizations and companies. The IT labor force grew from 719,000 jobs in 1983 to 2.5 million at its peak in 2000.

With the growth of IT came an increasing reliance upon foreign workers. This increase was facilitated by legislation expanding the use of H-1B visas, which allow skilled foreign workers to take jobs in the U.S. for up to six years. A cap of 195,000 on the number of visas that can be issued has been in place for each of the past three years, but the cap will drop to 65,000 on Oct. 1. L-1 visas, which allow companies to transfer foreign employees into the U.S., have tripled in use.

The report, sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York and the United Engineering Foundation, an umbrella organization for engineering groups, draws no firm conclusion on the offshore outsourcing trend. But it recognizes predictions made by analyst firms, including Gartner Inc., which in July estimated that 10% of all U.S. professional jobs in IT services companies would be transferred overseas, along with 5% of IT positions in other businesses.

Long term, the report says more research is needed on the effects of offshore outsourcing and the workforce issues raised by it: "Can the U.S. continue to be a prime market for the rest of the world if it is a stronghold for neither manufacturing nor technical services?" the report asks. "What are the long-run implications of these trends for American standards of living?"

The CPST report concludes that while the job market for IT professionals has weakened, it remains sizable.

"For the near run, normal turnover alone will generate opportunities for people who are determined to work in the field," the report said. "The long-run outlook is more problematic. The United States does not lack, either now or in the foreseeable future, sufficient numbers of capable people who would like to work in IT. But those people may not be willing to conclude that long-run demands for their services will be good enough to support IT as a sensible career choice."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: employment; h1b; h1bvisas; l1; l1visas; unemployment
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To: null and void
YIKES!!! the time! Gotta go get the kids!!!!!

BBL
121 posted on 09/19/2003 6:39:15 PM PDT by null and void (Tomorrow's another day - and there's always the FBI files...)
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To: Mini-14
I've said this many times, IT is just a skill to supplement a true profession.
122 posted on 09/19/2003 6:39:32 PM PDT by Porterville (I spell stuff wrong sometimes, get over yourself, you're not that great.)
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To: null and void
Swervie, you are not so naïve as to believe the actual unemployment rate has any relationship to the reported rate.

I know you better than that!

I think your vision is skewed by the fact that the United 49 States, excluding California, are not having a recession and have not had one in the last 3 years. All the carnage is in your back yard.
Outside CA, and your industry, the GDP is growing, jobs are growing and the outlook is good.

So9

123 posted on 09/19/2003 7:06:44 PM PDT by Servant of the 9 (The Alpha and the Numeric)
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To: Servant of the 9
We have a big recession here and it's not in California. A lot longer than 3 years too.
124 posted on 09/19/2003 7:15:45 PM PDT by FITZ
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To: FITZ
We have a big recession here and it's not in California. A lot longer than 3 years too.

Where is here?
What do you call big?
Was it ever not a recession by your standards, and when?

SO9

125 posted on 09/19/2003 7:25:20 PM PDT by Servant of the 9 (The voices tell me to stay home and clean the guns.)
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To: Servant of the 9
It's one of the top 20 cities and an area fast growing in population. Before the 90's it wasn't in recession. NAFTA really hit hard here.
126 posted on 09/19/2003 7:33:26 PM PDT by FITZ
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To: Jim Cane; w1andsodidwe; Glenn; BabsC; TopQuark; StolarStorm
I let irritation at being misunderstood by one person tempt me into being insufferable. I'm sorry I got snarly and went off in the wrong direction. w1andsodidwe and BabsC understood what I was actually saying. I wasn't criticizing or gloating--I was analyzing, in that first post. However, my subsequent posts were more over-reaction at being provoked, than substance. I am sorry.

I agree that our government has been pursuing policies that cost American jobs. The worst of it is our uncontrolled border policy, which threatens our national security as well as fiscal health as a nation and as individuals.
127 posted on 09/19/2003 7:44:41 PM PDT by ChemistCat (I have two daughters. I know peacemaking. What we're doing in Israel ain't it.)
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Comment #128 Removed by Moderator

To: Jim Cane
Why is it the goverment's job to take my tax money to foster corporate and foreign welfare?

There is no such thing as "corporate welfare." This is an invention of the leftists, and you should be ashamed of yourself for (i) letting it infiltrate your mind and (ii) promulgatig it on a conservative board.

129 posted on 09/19/2003 8:01:26 PM PDT by TopQuark
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To: ChemistCat
Thanks for the post, Chemist.

But there is nothing to apologize for: your posts are well thought our and civil. If anything, I'd like to thank you.

I too am appalled at the laxity of our borders and the consequent loss of jobs and tax dollars. I cannot find any excuse for Bush not to have shut the borders immediately after Sep 11 (yes, I'll still vote for him, but I find that inexcusable)

Most people nowadays b----ch about something else: that daddy-Bush (government) should protect them from their jobs being outsourced. That has nothing to do with the conserbative view of the economy, and that is were I part company. It appears, however, that you are not in that category, Chemist.

Thanks again for your posts.

130 posted on 09/19/2003 8:08:59 PM PDT by TopQuark
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To: Admin Moderator
Piss on you as well.
131 posted on 09/19/2003 8:09:36 PM PDT by Glenn (What were you thinking, Al?)
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To: null and void
*groan*


132 posted on 09/19/2003 8:13:22 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Far out, man!)
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To: TopQuark
But there is nothing to apologize for

Of course there isn't. Geez.

133 posted on 09/19/2003 8:17:31 PM PDT by Glenn (What were you thinking, Al?)
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To: null and void
"It's a source of considerable pride, as long as there is another job to move TO..."

Yes, I've had the same thing happen a number of times. I actually worked for a consulting company that encouraged excellent and efficient work. Unfortunately there are only so many decent projects to go around. The real problem now is that getting that *next* position is the killer. Three years ago you could pick up a job or contract in a few weeks of looking, but now it's more like 16 months (that's the number a recruiter related to me).
134 posted on 09/19/2003 8:28:51 PM PDT by JohnSmithee
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To: Mears
Now let's all go to New Delhi and Calcutta and see how things are there.

the PC movement has screwed up life for lots of educated Indians. Quotas for untouchables have forced educated IT professionals to come over here on VISAs to find work. Read this months National Geographic.

135 posted on 09/19/2003 8:29:10 PM PDT by Archie Bunker on steroids
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To: null and void
Computers are no longer "new" and the bubble has burst. 6% or 7% unemployment is relatively low and normal. Get used to it.

Swervie, you are not so naïve as to believe the actual unemployment rate has any relationship to the reported rate.


A lot of IT people are simply leaving the field and so presumably are no longer counted as unemployed IT workers.
136 posted on 09/19/2003 8:31:18 PM PDT by JohnSmithee
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To: Glenn
'tis why I carry a parasol.
137 posted on 09/19/2003 8:32:25 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: TopQuark
There is no such thing as "corporate welfare."

What about the farm bill?

What about all the taxes that we pay to support all the foreigners that use our schools our roads etc. These "workers" are not here for the benefit of the general public, they are here for the benefit of corporations. So in essence the tax payer pays for corporations to have an unlimited supply of low cost foreign workers. If this is not corporate welfare what is it?

138 posted on 09/19/2003 8:39:52 PM PDT by blueriver
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To: jimfree
One of my most valuable skills is a command of the English language.

Amen.

139 posted on 09/19/2003 8:43:17 PM PDT by PFKEY
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To: TopQuark
most still think that presidents have anything to do with economy.

People still strongly believe this nonsense.

Just watch the evening news.

140 posted on 09/19/2003 8:49:22 PM PDT by PFKEY
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