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Techies Migrate in Search of Work
prostoalex writes "Tracing the story of one family where the father is employed in the IT field, the Washington Post discusses the current unemployment in the information technology field. For a good reason - for the first time in 30 years the IT unemployment rate exceeded the national average unemployment rate, implying that you have a better chance of getting a job if your field is something other than IT. The journalist does offer a disclaimer, saying that the term 'IT worker' is applied equally to a top-notch scientist in a research lab, to a dot-com startup billionaire, and to a local HTML guru. Relevant employment statistics also shows that layoffs in the IT field were up 60% in the third quarter of 2004."
Having read the article in the Post, the guy the story is about is an ex-mechanic who got into IT during the boom. He live in the Midwest (not exactly a hotbed of IT jobs). A perfect analogy would be someone looking for water in the desert. He isn't moving to one of the coasts, so he's kind of stuck. Living in the DC area, there are loads of jobs, but you have to get here. He'd be better off signing up with one of the big contracting firms (EDS, SAIC, etc.) if he's looking.
Really, there's no demand for people who know how to use a computer. Everyone knows how to use a computer.
I'm tired of reading "poor me! I used to make 100,000 a year because I knew Lotus 1-2-3, and now the only work I can get is data entry for minimum wage" stories.
We all know how it works. The IT industry is rife with deskilling. What is today a marketable skill (I don't know, configuring LANs by hand, for instance) is tomorrow a useless one (autosensing switches and DHCP, etc). New technologies are constantly being created to replace IT workers.
So if you want to stay with the computers, you have to constantly acquire new skills to stay a step ahead. People who think they can just sit back and live the fat life and let their A+ certification take care of them are dead wrong and deserve what they get.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
The late 90's were an aberration that drew many unqualified people into IT. Think paper MCSEs and IT managers that could barely send email. What we are seeing is a deabsorption of these people (e.g. many of them out of work). Watch the allied health (medium skilled) fields do the same thing in a few years.
I get to pay for Social Security without the hope of getting any, I thought this applied to anyone under 30?
500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
Unless we see something new, IT jobs are going the way of plumbers. Every town will have a few and if a company needs IT support they'll call one out. The rest of the time their computers will just work.
That is the problem people look at people using computers they go IT. It was the same durring the late 90s tech boom they sell products on the internet then they are a tech company (I am sorry Pets.com was not a Tech company it was a Pet suply store that happends to be online) To put Pets.com as the same type of company as say Sun Micrososystems is just plane stupid. Now That the echonmy dropped they are still saying that all of them are IT staff. So to say that IT is down then the real question where is it down? Is it in the application Programmers, The Web Developers, IT Technical Support, System Administrators, Network Consultants, ..., ..., ... There are tons of jobs that fall under IT which require different disiplins and skills. Most Colleges have seemed to realize these differences thus make a difference between Computer Science, Computer Engineering, MIS, Information Technology Systems, ..., ..., ... But the general public doesn't seem t want to make the seporation in their mind. Sure we use computers for more then wordprocessing and spreadsheet, But after that the simularites get far more seporated. Saying IT jobs are being loss at the nation average is like saying, Office jobs are being loss above the national average. While only a couple of office jobs have been dropped.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
had NO business being in IT in the first place!
They knew what the interweb was and could spell HTML yet, somehow, commanded over 50k a year.
I was glad to see the "people rake" come through and get rid of some of the dead weight.
Of course, you have to deal with a complete lack of anything resembling broadband, which is probably why they have the shortage in the first place; no techie wants to move somewhere 256kbps is considered broadband and worth paying $50/month for.
You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
Oh well, I have a good job now, and I got it because all of the idiots out there made me look so much better. Hell, the guy that I interviewed with left because he didn't know what he was doing, and now I do his job and mine. Maybe if there were more qualified people, I would have a new coworker... because we are looking, we just cannot find anyone who is competent.
Politics, Life, and More on my Aspiring for the Future
"That's why I'm such a big fan of Community College!"
Woo-Hoo, that guy should just go to community college, then he'll be able to find another great job. Isn't it so great when everything is so black and white?
The guy's making good money, it's his expenses that are killing him. Having to move frquently and accepting a motel as a home is a judgement call and it's blowing 1800 a month.
He should have his 9 year old set up a bank account so he can avoid the check-cashing fee.
If his wife can work they ought to just move back to Warren and he can commute to Akron, Kent, Canton or the Cleveland area. A three bedroom rental at $1000 and suddenly he's saving $700 / month.
The whole economy is too darwinian, future generations can't defend themselves if they haven't been born yet, and today's financial institutions just do whatever Washington will let them get away with. Shareholders VS society at-large. Temporal mindsets suck.
This guy should be happy he's got a wife and kids. Try PLC or truck driving or become an RN. There 'Service Economy' is inescapable - so he should be happy with what he's got. Sorry to be bitter, but I got my own problems, and $30 an hour aint one of 'em.
'There is only so much room in the economy for business owners - leaving the rest of us destined to being someone else's Em-Ploy-Ee.'
~ Ted Kaczynski, The Unabomber Manifesto
Stuff that matters.
The only thing that's kept it alive this long is that the Baby Boomers hadn't retired yet -- while they were still working, the money coming in to the "trust fund" was just about equal to what was getting paid out.
Now that the baby boomer generation is starting to retire, there are going to be A LOT MORE people drawing Social Security benefits and A LOT LESS money going in to the system. Can you say "negative cash flow"?
The money Congress stole is going to have to be repaid or else people are going to wake up and realize it's all been a big Ponzi scheme. You think Bush's Billionare Buddies are going to let him raise *their* taxes? You've gotta be kidding me. It's us -- the middle class who works for a living -- who are going to have to pay more taxes to cover the shortfall.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
Holy shit, that's one of the darkest posts I've ever read.
I hope thinking like yours doesn't become a trend. We need optimism and ambition, not this pessimistic crap. Life is what you make of it, and there are always more opportunities than there are people. Within reason, what you want is almost always within your reach if you're willing to work hard enough. If we go to hell in a handbasket it's going to be because people who think like you will take us there. Fortunatly I think you're in the vast minority and could probably do with some anti-depressants.
Something dawned on me yesterday. IT is one of the few, if not the only, industry ever created to put its own workers, and the workers of as many other industries as possible, out of a job. That is the purpose of information technology. Kind of sad and kind of neat. IT makes very few truly new products. We create products that do old things a different way (ie. streaming a video over a network, cable or otherwise, so you don't have to go to Blockbuster). So be it.
"Instead of living in an apartment, which in the same area will cost less than renting an entire house, and saving up this family is now crammed in a motel room!"
You're blaming the guy because he chose to rent? Contrary to what many people seem to believe, buying a house is not always a smart financial move. First, I'm glad that you can rent "an entire house" cheaper than you can rent an apartment in your area, but I think you'll find that in many parts of the U.S. that isn't the case. Second, if you're not going to be able to stay in a house for a period of several years before you try to sell it, you can wind up losing quite a bit of money. You have to pay a real estate agent, loan fees, taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities that might be included in rent (e.g. water and garbage), etc. If the selling price of your house hasn't gone up considerably since you bought it, it can be cheaper to rent. Any financial planner can tell you that. If your employment future in the area is murky, you might be better off renting.I make decent money. Not great, but comfortable and enough to keep a roof over my family, put money in a retirement fund, private school for the kids, a "saftey net" savings account and we're getting ready to buy our first home. And this is in LA County with a high cost of living and the AVERAGE house runs about .5 mil.
I have been offered literally triple my salery if I were willing to move/commute over an hour away -- or move to another state all together.
I've turned them down. I've turned them all down. Why? Because I live in an "ok" area. I live about a 20 min WALK from work. My hours are of my own choosing (mostly) and I enjoy a huge amount of freedom with my employer.
I actually get to help RAISE my kids -- not just let my wife or some hired 'day care' raise them. Our children have never seen a 'baby sitter' other than grandma. They've never been picked up from school by anyone other than my wife or myself. You cant pay me enough to give that up.
What are the benefits again?
That being said - I'm all for paying into Social Security to support those who depend on it or have paid into it for decades (and doing so as long as needed). But as a younger worker (30), give me the opportunity to save some of that myself in my own plan. Don't force me to pay into something I don't want and provides virtually ZERO benefit!
Computer Science is Applied Philosophy
Well said.
The same is true about the lifestype polygraph. You can be a married father and banging strange men at rest stops on the side with no condom.... but as long as your spouse knows about it there is no problem as far as your employment status...
Blackmail only works on people with something to hide.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Don't buy bread; buy flour, eggs, and yeast and learn to bake your own bread. Don't buy pre-packaged deli meat; buy a big enconomy-size roast, cook it yourself, and slice it up. Don't buy potato chips, buy a big bag of potatos and a gallon of vegatable oil. You get the idea...
Tomatos too expensive? Plant a garden! Even an apartment dweller can raise a significant crop of fresh vegatables in big flowerpots. Go to the library and check out a book on box gardening.
Most importantly, learn how to shop! For example, every supermarket I've ever been in marks down it's meats on the sell-by date. They'll sell it for a few cents on the dollar rather than thowing it out. If you know your store's routine, you can be there waiting when they mark it down. Then, take it straight home and throw it in the freezer. The other thing is to take advantage of coupons and loss leaders! Loss leaders are great if you have the discipline to go in and ONLY buy what's on sale. You may have to go to 3 or 4 stores to get everything you need, but you save a ton of money. Clipping coupons may be a pain in the ass, but it's worth it -- my wife will routinely spend $100 at the grocery store and get $60 of it back in coupons and promotions.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
Lets see... I will probably be considered a bigot for say this. You have several options.
1. Become a citizen.
2. Not work in the U.S. and return home.
3. Stay and pay for the infrastructure that allows you to get to work and enjoy your life style.
I take issue with your misuse of my country's founding war cry, "taxed without representation". NO ONE HAS REPRESENTATION IN ANY COUNTRY THEY ARE NOT A CITIZEN.
If it so bad here in the U.S. why stay? It must be better than anywhere else. Even with the taxes.
I am glad you do not have security clearance.