News
U.S. IT Workforce Fell 5 Percent in 2001
A survey from the Information Technology Association of America says that the number of employees in the U.S. IT workforce fell by almost 5 percent in 2001.
- By Scott Bekker
- 07/17/2002
It was about as bad as you thought last year. A survey from the Information
Technology Association of America says that the number of employees in
the U.S. IT workforce fell by almost 5 percent in 2001. But the results
of the study show IT managers are optimistic that they’ll be able to reduce
the crush of work on their IT departments by hiring new people this year.
“This is obviously a good news/bad news report for IT workers,” ITAA
president Harris N. Miller said in a statement. “Revenue growth in the
IT industry stalled in the past year, and now we know that IT employment
has actually lost ground. We think the situation will be short-lived,
with employers filling positions they were forced to cut during the recession.”
The U.S. IT workforce dropped by 500,000 employees from 10.4 million
to 9.9 million in 2001. Tech workers at IT companies were hit hardest.
IT firms reduced their ranks by 15 percent, while non-IT firms issued
pink slips to only 4 percent of their workers. The pain was shared fairly
equally across all regions in the country, ITAA found.
But the ITAA found that hiring managers estimate they will attempt to
fill 1.1 million positions in the next 12 months. A lack of qualified
workers will mean that almost 600,000 of those positions will not be filled,
ITAA estimates.
Among other findings, the ITAA study determined that, while hiring managers
continue to consider experience the best means of skill development, certifications
rose in importance among the eight job categories measured.
The survey, called “Bouncing Back: Jobs, Skills and the Continuing Demand
for IT Workers,” is based on telephone interviews with 532 hiring managers.
[This news was originally posted May 8, 2002 on ENTmag.com. Click
here to read comments from ENTmag.com readers.—Editor]
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.