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Nearly 50,000 IT Jobs Lost In Past Year
Posted by
kdawson
on Fri Aug 08, 2008 09:35 AM
from the but-you-knew-that dept.
from the but-you-knew-that dept.
snydeq writes "Employment statistics from the US Department of Labor show what most IT people have already realized: IT jobs are getting harder to come by. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13,000 jobs in the information industry were cut in July, bringing the total to 44,000 year over year. An additional 5,000 jobs were lost in telecom this past month. The statistics reinforce a recent survey of top CIOs who indicated that they will be reducing their IT staff over the coming year. According to a staffing research firm, some jobs have gone to outsourcers, while other jobs are simply going away, either due to cost-oriented automation efforts or due to increasing the remaining staff's workload."
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Developers: Open Source Helps New IT Grads Get Foot in the Door 128 comments
Yes, some US IT jobs are disappearing, but Linux.com (which shares a corporate overlord with Slashdot) has a recent story emphasizing the job advantage that involvement in open source projects can give young programmers who aren't planning to ditch their dreams of making a living in the field. The article focuses on one programmer's experience with Google's Summer of Code, which led directly to her job working on the Drupal content-management system. But the underlying message (that involvement in open source projects provides a background of experience otherwise difficult to obtain because of the chicken-and-egg problem of "experience required" job opportunities) is generalizable to many other forms of open-source involvement. Do you have a job that you landed because of your unpaid open-source programming?
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Meanwhile... (Score:5, Insightful)
Meanwhile, CEOs continue to spout off about how there's a shortage of skilled IT people in the US. Gosh, I wonder why [slashdot.org]. If China is the "factory to the world," I guess that would make the US the Wal-Mart of the world. Give it a few years once we're all working as cashiers for Wal-Mart, and that will probably be literally true.
Of course, the rub of it all is that as long as companies are laying off people a few hundred here and a few hundred there, something that human resource departments have mastered, no one will really be that worried about it. "Whew, glad it wasn't MY job," we all say as a few of our friends and coworkers are being escorted out the door each month. It's death by a thousand cuts, and what companies are doing will result in this country's ultimate demise as a superpower.
Re:Meanwhile... (Score:5, Insightful)
You do realize that there are two types of IT work done in the US: project and maintenance. Ongoing maintenance is easily outsourced and firms are not primed to continuously run IT project after IT project.
IT is basically landscaping but with computers instead of shrubbery. Maybe it's not seasonal but there's no rule saying EVERYONE has to do projects all the time or at the same time.
In fact, with money tightening, most orgs are content to limp through with what applications and systems they have until things turn better.
Parent
Re:Meanwhile... (Score:5, Funny)
IT is basically landscaping but with computers instead of shrubbery.
So *that's* why the Knights Who Say Ni! keep following me around...
Parent
There IS a shortage (Score:5, Insightful)
Having said that, I suspect the same is true of gifted CEOs and business managers.
As for China, I don't see any difference there. Being cheap and accepting high scrap rates and the occasional scandal is not a long term strategy. The painful issue that we are not addressing is that we (including me, I am one of the guilty parties) are creating a world which is just too difficult and complex for most people to play an meaningful role.
Parent
Re:There IS a shortage (Score:5, Interesting)
There is a shortage for Competent skilled and experienced IT workers that will accept a very low wage.
THAT is the real shortage. I know of several IT guys that were making a paltry $23.50 an hour that have been offered several IT jobs at $12.95 or $18.95 an hour and told the recruiter it was an insult.
They make more selling insurance and working as a drywaller than in IT.
Parent
Re:So true. (Score:5, Funny)
You appear to be channeling Lou Dobbs.
Parent
Re:So true. (Score:5, Funny)
Congratulations. An illegal mexican built your house, and you paid the price: money out of YOUR pocket on repairs, plus YOUR inflated tax bill to pay for his illegal family's medical bills in the emergency room, his anchor baby's birth in the local hospital, his illegal kids' schooling (stealing directly from YOUR kid's education), the crimes committed by his illegal friends and his kids in gangs, and of course the fact that HE and HIS ILLEGAL FAMILY are stealing someone's social security number to run up debt in their name.
The person whose SSN he stole, who will have their lives and credit ruined when he skips out on the bills later? Congratulations - that could be YOU or YOUR kid. The kid killed by his friends or his kids in gangs? Congratulations - that could be YOUR friend or family member.
Wow, this is one problematic Mexican! This guy is like the Dr. Evil of low-wage migrant labor!
Parent
Re:So true. (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:So true. (Score:5, Insightful)
For similar reasons as to why Fox News has a noteworthy market share.
Also, the level of hatred towards minority groups it is considered socially acceptable to display, increases proportionally with the need for a scapegoat - e.g. during times of social or economic upheaval.
Parent
Re:you do realize (Score:5, Interesting)
What are you talking about? Learning a new skill always pays off. It may not immediately mean more money or a better job, but education is something that is never a bad investment. I'm one class away from having my MSCS. Is it automatically going to mean more money? Probably not. Did I learn lots of stuff that I now use daily in my job? No, although I did learn a lot of fun, interesting things. What I have gotten out my additional education is a deeper understanding of CS which I can build upon and I've met lots of people that I otherwise wouldn't have met. Many of these people have already offered me jobs where they work or at the companies they own.
It's easy to blame your current situation on forces outside your control, but learning new skills is one way to take control and change your situation.
Parent
Does this include help desk? (Score:5, Insightful)
well does it? Because most help desk isn't really IT, but in many places it is under the IT umbrella. I'm primarily talking about the 1st contact people.
Meh... (Score:5, Insightful)
I lost my IT job in July! (Score:5, Funny)
Cool, I'm a statistic.
Not surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's face it... the definition of IT is going to continuously evolve as people get more computer savvy and applications and hardware get more sophisticated.
My hunch is that many of those jobs were low level and barely passable as "IT" anymore.
Remember that in the late 70's/early 80's, you could make $60K/year for doing data entry. Typing skills and knowledge of a key program like Lotus 123 made you a god. Now of course you could pick any random 12 year old off the street and have him perform that job to perfection.
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Funny)
If you think people are getting more literate, I'd like to move in with you. It sounds wonderful in fantasy land!
Parent
Industry finally deals with the 'skills shortage' (Score:5, Insightful)
By firing a load of qualified IT professionals!
Of course, those laid off don't have the *right* skills, because they aren't 19 year olds with PhDs who were programming in ASP.NET in kindergarten before it was even created...
By the way (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, great. (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
IT is the goose that lays the golden eggs. (Score:5, Interesting)
David Ogilvy (of Ogilvy and Mather) once said that when times were lean, companies cut advertising. This, he said, was foolish. It is advertising that brings in the money that is coming in.
IT is the same. IT increases worker productivity, making every dollar you spend on headcount outside of IT worth more. IT decreases costs and increases customer satisfaction (with things like order turnaround). In some companies, it's the IT department which makes new products possible. It is your operational IT staff which keeps disaster from striking.
When times are lean, it's a good time to look at your IT and figure out how to make it more effective. That might mean some cutting, but it more likely means project changes and staffing UP.
A badly-run, sprawling, over-staffed IT department is a prime space to cut, but I've seen few of those. Even in those, cutting needs to be done very carefully and needs to be accompanied by money injected on projects which will make cutting safe. Those projects take time must be nurtured well before cuts are made.
IT operations can be very expensive, in particular because it sometimes is lumped in with the desktop budget. But IT development is what makes IT operations cheaper, and just a few people can work miracles in IT development.
If you're cut from an IT department during lean times, and you weren't clearly dead weight, you have the very small satisfaction of knowing that your layoff proves that your company wasn't particularly clever.
Re:IT is the goose that lays the golden eggs. (Score:5, Interesting)
The company I've been with for 3.5 years has done this, every year.
When I got here, the IT department was huge, bloated, and mostly useless. The company realized this, fired the CIO, and laid off hundreds, including outsourcing large parts (such as desktop support). Surprisingly (or not so), things didn't get better, they got worse. They had no idea who to layoff, or why they were doing it, they just knew they were 'too large'. Cue 2nd CIO getting fired.
3rd CIO comes on board. Another round of layoffs. Again, wrong people get let go. Now, we have a bloated (still) IT department, filled with mostly the wrong people. And the good people, at this point, are just keeping their heads down, hoping not to get the axe. So nothing productive is getting done, as everyone focuses on shoring up their jobs. Politics begin in earnest here, as everyone starts to panic.
This cycle repeats itself 3 more times - yes, in 3+ years, we're on CIO #5. They just had another round of layoffs (the 3rd). This time, they nailed a bunch of the useless middle management, and some 'cabal leaders' that really needed to go. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then, I guess.
I don't work for IT (I work closely with them), and I've had enough. I just found a new job, and am bailing out, while I can.
What does this show? CxO's know that IT can be bloated/useless - but I don't have any confidence that they have a clue how to fix that, other than blanket layoffs, and bringing in 'management consultants'.
It also shows that jobs are out there - I didn't have much trouble finding a job, once I got serious about my search. In one of the other comments in the thread (I can't find it at the moment), someone mentioned that the lower level IT jobs and maintenance jobs are the ones getting impacted. Thats OK, I think - it's the natural cycle. As the lower level stuff becomes routine, it can be done by lower and lower level people, or one person can do more of it. The trick here is growing your career at least as fast as the industry, so you can keep closer to the cutting edge, and have opportunities. I almost fell off that treadmill, glad to be back on.
Parent
Layoffs by Attrition (Score:5, Interesting)
Layoffs by Attrition. That's what I like to call it when management reduces staff and increases workload on the remaining employees. They're not laying off personnel -- they're quitting! I guess this looks better to the investors because they're reducing costs yet not reporting layoffs. Of course, the result is that you end up with an understaffed and incompetent organization because the best and the brightest end up leaving first. After all, the good ones can readily find gainful employment in other companies that know how to treat their staff better.
Then learn new skill sets! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Then learn new skill sets! (Score:5, Insightful)
IT/IS is a tool for business, not many businesses make IT critical to their business plan. If you're in IT/IS right now, get more proactive in participating in business discussions by suggesting how IT can add value to the goals of that business.
The cynic in me wants to know how you're supposed to get "more proactive" when the same morons who don't understand the difference between "the cpu and the hard drive" announce unilateral IT decisions made without consultation like "we need to all get Blackberries" when they ignore information about other key systems with problems.
The problem is seldom lack of desire to participate, but decision makers who have no understanding of IT (besides wanting "shiny") and who choose to not include or consult with IT. Yes, you would think economic selection would filter out these kinds of executives, but we also thought economic selection wouldn't pay guys like Bob Nardelli $210 million in severance after ruining growth and depressing share prices.
As an IT consultant, I generally get a seat at the table (or at least invited into the room partway into the discussions) because they pay dearly for me on an hourly basis and I was hired because someone had half an idea that IT was something to pay attention to. But even then, good IT decision making plays second fiddle to a whole host of other concerns that are seldom considered business critical (eg, shiny toys, inconveniences that would be experienced by favored employees, etc).
The dipshit factor in IT I think has less to do with the inherent lack of social skills, but in the lack of respect the positions have within the organization. If you think it's not a valuable position, you don't pay for it and your don't hire for it as long as the job gets done to some minimal, keep-the-organization-going-standard.
Parent
"The Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Jobs" (Score:5, Interesting)
Submitted July 17th
IT employment news summary: July 29th to Aug 7th (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry if there any errors, or omissions, I am trying to be accurate. A lot has happend in a little over a week.
The following takes place between July 29th and August 7th:
August 07, 2008:
Judge rejects student visa injunction sought by H-1B opponents
Tech workers don't have standing to fight Bush administration visa move
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111963 [computerworld.com]
August 07, 2008:
Jobless claims surge to highest level in 6 years
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/07/news/economy/jobless_benefits.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes [cnn.com]
August 06, 2008:
Bureau of Labor Statistics reports big drop in tech jobs
Almost 50,000 IT positions lost in last 12 months
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/07/news/economy/jobless_benefits.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes [cnn.com]
Aug 06,2008:
Yet another visa, this one allows 5000 Koreans to work in the USA each year
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200808/200808060014.html [chosun.com]
August 06, 2008:
Apple sued over treatment of it's tech workers
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/06/apple-gets-sued-indentured [theinquirer.net]
August 05, 2008:
Bogus diploma ring busted
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-diploma-mill-04-aug04,0,2164133.story [chicagotribune.com]
August 03, 2008:
July marks seventh consecutive month of job loses
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/46146.html [mcclatchydc.com]
August 02, 2008:
Sun to cut between 1000 to 2500 jobs
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/08/01/sun-us-tech-market-wont-shine-soon/ [wsj.com]
August 01, 2008:
Gartner's grim IT hiring outlook
http://blogs.zdnet.com/careers/?p=140 [zdnet.com]
August 01, 2008:
Feds charges man for H1-B fraud
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_visa01.47edb3e.html# [pe.com]
Jul 31, 2008:
More than 3.7 million Americans had full-time jobs chopped to part time
the largest figure since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/business/economy/31jobs.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin [nytimes.com]
July 31, 2008:
Layoffs set for 22,000 California state workers
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10046324 [mercurynews.com]
July 30, 2008:
WTO Doha talks collapse
India's backdoor attempt to allow more H-1Bs into the USA failed, for now
http://www.economicpopulist.org/?q=content/why-you-should-be-thrilled-wto-doha-talks-collapsed [economicpopulist.org]
July 30, 2008:
NY gov slashes spending; state said in "recession"
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3032764920080730?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0 [reuters.com]
July 30, 2008:
China trade has cost 2.3 million U.S. jobs
http://www.reuters.com/article/politic [reuters.com]