Optimistic ITAA report
Optimistic ITAA report
Date: Friday, December 20, 2002 11:52 PM
H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
If the article below sounds silly just remember that Harris Miller didn't do
this interview for our audience. His organization, ITAA, is concocting this
optimistic propaganda for Congress. Politicians eager for high-tech campaign
money will accept his version of the truth in order to justify their support
for an increase.
Miller has been hard at work for about 6 months lobbying Congress for an
increase in H-1B yearly limits. He made it clear that he wants the 195,000
limit to last for eternity.
Don't be surprised if a bill to increase the H-1B limits is introduced early
in 2003, possibly in January.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021220S0005
Study Says IT Job Market Is Stabilizing
ITAA report says both hirings and dismissals slowed in the third quarter.
By Mitch Wagner, TechWeb News, InformationWeek
Dec 20, 2002 (12:00 AM)
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021220S0005
The IT workforce is stabilizing as both hiring and dismissals of IT
professionals slowed in the third quarter, according to a report issued by
the Information Technology Association of America.
There was a net gain of 147,000 jobs in the third quarter, but the number of
IT workers hired in the past year declined to 1.1 million, according to the
study released this week. During the same period, there were fewer
dismissals, with 844,000 tech workers dismissed in the 12 months ending in
October 2002, compared with 2.6 million in the 12 months ending in 2002.
"Both hiring and dismissals are far below January numbers, which may signal
a stabilization of the IT workforce after the roller coaster of recent
year," ITAA president Harris Miller says. "We're also seeing more optimism
than last quarter on the part of hiring managers as they anticipate their
needs over the next year." The total number of U.S. IT workers was up in
October to 10.1 million, compared with 9.9 million in January, the report
says.
IT managers predict they'll need to hire an additional 1.1 million workers
in coming months, roughly on a par with plans at the beginning of this year
and an improvement over July projections, indicating improved optimism by
hiring managers.
Tech-support workers represent 42% of all IT hires during the quarter, with
152,000 hired. The overall number of network administrators declined 8.5%
since the beginning of the year, from 733,000 to 671,000, while the number
of Web developers and database developers climbed 5.4% and 5.3%,
respectively, since January.
Top tech skills include Oracle, Java, SQL Server, and Windows NT.
But Frances Quittel, an independent technology recruiter known on the Web as
CareerBabe, was skeptical. She says she sees the job market continuing to
get worse for IT job seekers through the end of the year, and the outlook
for 2003 is completely uncertain.
"There was no Santa Claus effect this year," she says. "Usually, at the end
of the year there is some rally in the stock market." Companies' revenues
are down, and therefore they aren't hiring.
"Companies are waiting, they are not making any plans, they are in hold mode
and are trying to figure out how they can wrap up the fourth quarter before
moving along," Quittel says. Uncertainty over war in Iraq is contributing to
keeping the market down, she adds.
And companies are not innovating; there's no new technology that companies
feel compelled to have, as they felt compelled to implement the Internet in
the '90s, Quittel says.
"When you're in maintenance mode, you don't need to hire a lot of IT people.
You can outsource those jobs. There is nothing driving this economy that is
a huge wave of must-have technology," she says.
Where there is hiring, she adds, people are hiring one-off; there's no mass
hiring going on.
On the other hand, many companies are interviewing. IT managers are
optimistic about being given the green light to start new projects and want
to have job candidates ready to hire when the projects are ready to launch,
Quittel says. Also, equipment bought from 1997-99 is now fully amortized and
may be due for replacement, which would lead to new jobs installing and
maintaining that equipment.
She says increased government spending will lead to added jobs in
government.
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