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US Demand for IT Workers Remains Strong Despite Slowdown: Survey
The demand for IT workers in the United states may be slowing with the economic downturn, but there are still a number of positions unfilled for qualified IT workers, a survey released Monday indicated.
The survey was released by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), which questioned by phone 685 IT managers both inside and outside the US IT industry.
It shows that the economic slowdown has affected the U.S. IT industry by dramatically reducing the demand for IT workers. It estimated the demand for new IT workers in 2001 will be about 900, 000, down 44 percent from 1.6 million in 2000.
However, the talent gap remains large because hiring managers still predict a shortfall of 425,000 skilled workers this year, although it decreases by 50 percent from 850,000 in last year.
The ITAA study finds that, compared with IT companies, non-IT companies remain the larger employer of IT workers with 9.5 million, generate the greater demand at over 640,000 and experience the larger gap at nearly 303,000. In aggregate terms, non-IT companies employ 10 times more IT workers than IT companies do.
Among other key findings, the survey says that technical support people remain most in demand by IT and non-IT companies alike -- one-fourth of all new positions over the next 12 months. Even so, the demand for these professionals has reduced 65 percent from last year.
Demand decreases in several other categories, including technical writing down 73 percent, digital media down 62 percent, and database development/administration down 59 percent, the study shows.
While 2001 demand is lower in most job categories, it increased in the area of enterprise systems by 62 percent and by 13 percent in the network design/administration category, it adds.
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