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Tech Jobs Projected to Double by 2010
netbsd_fan writes "Today's Chicago Tribune has an article that claims that the number of coding jobs will double by 2010, and computer support jobs aren't far behind. It's hard to believe since I just laid off our last two Win32 guys Friday. Could this be a turning point in the labor market?"
I would not be surprised if programming job opportunities doubled in less than 3 years!
The catch is, you need to move to a third word country to get one of those new programming jobs, or at least be willing to work at 3rd world rates.
That is the unintended consequence of connecting everyone everywhere. Now employers can hire anyone from anywhere.
Huge amounts of indian workers flowed into the country with H1B immigration status. In short, if you can program or do tech work you can live in the US as long as you work in the industry (or your h1b ends). This is factor in why no one can get a job in the silicon valley area. Lots of people were displaced. After all the H1B's end, a lot of people will have to head back to India. This will open up a lot of jobs. This isn't like 20-30 jobs, it's like hundreds of thousands. I'm living in the bay area and it's funny cause jobs are so hard to get now. Entry level stuff requires like 5 years experience (isn't entry level about not having experience?) It's a rough time for some of us!
heh, I was wondering... so that means that by 2010 there will finally be demand for the supply of it & tech workers that was created in the 90's?
infoweek article on IT unemployment (nice graph)
I found in my job search that my longevity in the field was a problem. In general, years in the saddle directly translates into dollars. So its actually easier for younger less experienced yet well exposed candidates to land jobs because their lower cost.
So I would go in for a job that was a perfect fit for my experience, plus I could bring so much to the team. But never heard a thing. After talking with headhunters and other recruiters, it was clear that companies were looking at dollars first. In fact, I almost didn't get the job I have because they didn't feel that I would be happy with what they'd be willing to pay. This is true, but hey, its better than the nothing* I was making before!
In other news, the people I know in the VC arena say we're in year three of a six year slump in the IT industry.
Its great that you found a good job right out of school.
*Actually, panning $25/hr doing odd contracting work, when I could get it, and only then if I could get the client to pay up!
"Stop whining!" - Arnold, as Mr. Kimble
This is pure ITAA propoganda. This story comes out every year in a slightly different form. Even at the height of tech layoffs they were babbling on about how many IT jobs there were and how there wasn't enough workers to fill them all. The reason for tell these lies to so they can get congress to expand the H1B and H1 visa programs. The H1B limit falls back to 65,000 this fall so they are starting to put out these articles to lay the basis for claiming a shortage and the need for more importation of foreign workers.
I graduated with a Computer Engineering degree at the end of Decemeber, and after three long months of searching, I finally got a great job and am starting tomorrow. According to some of the recruiters I've talked to in the past couple of weeks, they are starting to see an increase in the number of jobs available in the field. If I can get a job with little real world experience in a town that has had hundreds (maybe thousand) of layoffs in the tech field, things must be looking up.
Yeah, but are you making $30k - $40k a year, or are they paying you a real salary?
I've seen many tech ads looking for "highly qualified, senior level positions, 10+ years experience, blah blah blah" that only pay $36k a year. They are banking on someone who got laid off and is desperate to take the position. I don't know about you, but I don't work for peanuts. BTW I found a new job 9 weeks after getting laid off that paid substantially more than what I was making before! Good jobs are out there, you just have to look harder for them these days.
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
In response to the question asked in the write-up, "Could this be a turning point in the labor market?" - no. This isn't talking about some specific turning point (and indeed most posts are currently noting that people feel the current workforce is so diminished that a doubling of jobs isn't much growth at all); rather this article is talking about a general demographic trend. We're entering the time period where the baby boomers are starting to retire, and the generations that follow after them do not have as large of a population. According to the article, "between now and 2010, for every new member added to the workforce there will be 2.6 new jobs created."
The title "Tech Jobs Projected to Double by 2010" comes from looking at the table provided at the bottom of the article where it states that the occupation of "Computer software engineers, applications" will grow from a current 380,000 jobs in 2000 to 760,000 jobs in 2010, or 100% growth. Note that that's job growth between 2000 and 2010, not between today and 2010 - so think about employment levels in 2000 instead of today; I know our company was twice as large in 2000 as it is today. The table actually lists 9 different jobs that I would call "Tech Jobs" that have pretty healthy growth rates - the tech slant in the article is that while all jobs are growing (in part due to baby boomer retirement) technology jobs are growing faster than any other jobs.
The implication of the article is that because this job growth rate will lead to a tighter employment market than was seen in the 1990's we will someday soon (well, someday before 2010) see the type of high wage growth and high starting wages in the tech industry that were a signature of the 1990's boom. All due to supply and demand in a labor market where people are retiring faster than new people enter the market.
My personal concern is that as this occurs the cost of Social Security will skyrocket (due to all those retiring folks), and if our federal budget keeps going the way it is we're going to end up with very high taxes that could offset the benefits of higher wages. (Of course, this will end up screwing the poor more than anyone else, of course, because payroll taxes aren't progressive - everyone pays the same percent no matter what.)
On a positive note (for those of us who call ourselves employees), this article should be a wake up call to employers to start treating their workers well, or they might have major problems in 7 years. With all the blogs, messageboards, and websites (F*ed Company comes to mind) that are storing a record of how companies treat their workers, you will end up paying tomorrow for the sins you commit today.
It's interesting to note how many people from the United States on /. and other boards are complaining about the lack of jobs in the tech industry. It seems that although jobs elsewhere pay less, there are far more of them.
Here in South Africa, the tech industry hasn't been through a so-called slump, in fact, the job market is probably better now than it was in 1999. The difference I see, though, is that most people here are talking about programming jobs. Going by pure numbers, most tech jobs here are either in networking or hardware.
Even at our company, which isn't a tech company by any means, we have 4 full time techs working on the in-house system (post-sales, customer relations, operations, call tracking) written (mainly) in Java and Python, and doing general network/system admin.
Friends that I met at Unisa who graduated with Computer Science degrees haven't by and large had any problems finding jobs, although it seems that more experienced people are sought after in more advanced areas. But the so-called lower-end jobs (and yes, I know that there are more advanced sub-divisions of each of these, but I'm talking about entry-level to mid-level) - Networking, System Admin, Hardware, Support - are pretty easy to get into.
We hang the petty thieves, but appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop
3 ISP's, 7 years, feel the pain.
1st one - out of business... Mismanagement
2nd one - out of business... Horrid Mismanagement
3rd one - out of business... Illegal Management (bad things happen to those who default on contracts to buy)
So I figured I needed to go do something else.. A nice change, so to speak. Programming.
8 months (bought my first house on the 7th) and the economy being as bad as it is causes major loses and sold the company.
5 months and NO jobs. Construction (which I'm quite capable of) is not open due to the large influx of Mexican workers. Programming jobs are being taken by internal promotion. Admins are sticking where they exist. And the joke that is unemployment is more than flipping burgers, less than cost of living. So I now have to sell my home, move BACK in with my parents, and become the one thing I swore I'd never be. (No mystery here folks, Unemployed and living at home being older than 21.)
I'd go back to acedemia, but frankly I'd have no way of supporting myself even IF I could afford tuition an books. Could get a loan, but oddly enough, I know more degreed individuals out of work than non-degreed.
And now we're at war. Is there any way to incarcerate every stinking politician in the country for gross incompetance?
-What have you contributed lately?
H1-B and L1 visa program, It all gets better with L1 visas .
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All they have to do is have a presence in the US and another country and they can import labor at UNLIMITED levels to the US
This is NOT just the IT field , in fact a few
insurance companies in connecticut have laid
of US workers in favor of L1 visas from Eurasia.
This trend is going to continue , but here is the funny thing
Most of these companies customers are americans, not ppl in Eurasia
So they are going to enter a never ending downward spiral as they cut jobs in the US,
ppl are going to spend less because they do not have a job . Thus this will EVENTUALLY cut into their profits
The foreign labor meanwhile sends this money to a foreign market, after all that is where
they live
3 Step process - remove jobs from US, Send jobs overseas(import temp labor), outflow of funds overseas
So not only are you increasing unemployment,
but money that was once earned then spent here
is removed TOTALLY from the economy
No amount of Tax cuts is going to compare to
4 million lost jobs averaging $40,000 a year
for a round number
That is 160 billion a year no longer earned here, and sent elsewhere
It's one thing to lose your jobs to someone
that will spend the money here, and another
to lose it to someone that sends the vast
majority of it home to Eurasia
As this starts to impact the economy here
and ppl spend less it will cause further
layoffs, bankruptcy, and foreclosures
Watch the housing market over the next 5 years
The american companies are tagetting short
term profit, and long term euthanasia in Eurasia.
When the count hits 10 million laid off americans, that will require 10 million
new jobs, and will funnel 400 billion out of the country
True those CEO's living in the lap of luxury
will rake in huge profits in the short term,
but it is long term suicide
The TRULY terrible thing is your rep in
congress either Dem or Repub supported
this almost 100% in a vote AFTER the DOT COM
BUST " began ", doubling the H1-b Cap
America for sale...SOLD...
They will reap what they sow, a bitter harvest.
Peace...
Ex-MislTech
google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"