| March 2006 |
| Technology Job Market Heats Up |
| After several lean years, statistical evidence shows U.S. tech job growth in ‘06 could be hottest since 2000. |
| By Tim Gray |
It is time to dust off the resume and sharpen the interview skills. The technology job market is back, and analysts predict it is only going to get stronger. A mere six years after the Internet bubble turned some Web CEO’s into taxi drivers, competition for IT professionals is once again heating up. “The technology industry as a whole, from hardware to software and software services will continue to grow this year,” Virendra Singh, a senior economist at Moody’s Economy.com, said. This year alone should see the creation of 217,000 new tech jobs in the United States, Singh predicts, making for the best year the industry has seen since it flattened toward the end 2000. That year, a high for employment during the tech boom, saw 440,000 new positions added to the country’s job force. Singh also expects the job-growth trend to remain steady through at least 2010, with an additional 126,000 jobs created in 2007 and 123,000 more in 2008. Hiring Hotspots While the nation as a whole will see an upswing in tech hiring, the hottest place to bring those highly honed programming skills will be the Mountain states which run from Colorado to Arizona to Idaho, according to the IT Hiring Index and Skills Report conducted by Robert Half Technology. Twenty-four percent of CIO’s in the region plan to expand their IT departments, and only two percent anticipate personnel cutbacks. “CIO’s in the Mountain states are actively hiring,” Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology, said. Techies who can assist with wireless network installations, regulatory compliance work and growing Internet-related business opportunities are the hottest in demand, according to Lee. Although analysts warn these trends can change quickly, there is a sufficient amount of evidence to suggest good times are here for awhile. The drive for new technology, combined with companies reporting healthy profit margins, paints a rosy picture for IT workers. “As business conditions improve and new IT projects are initiated, hiring activity is increasing,” Lee said. Salaries Increasing And it is not just jobs on the rise, wages are also trending upward. Nationwide, the average high tech salary grew 5.1 percent, to $69,000 in 2005, a telling leap compared to a year earlier, when it grew at 4.3 percent, according to Economy.com. “Competition among employers for the most highly skilled candidates means a more favorable employment market for job seekers,” Lee said. Fewer Layoffs And while jobs and salaries were increasing, the number of tech related layoffs were dropping. “Tech job cuts have been trending downward year after year as firms continue to regain their strength after the devastating dot com collapse,” John Challenger, a partner with consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said. “Many are expecting business spending on technology to rise significantly in 2006.” In fact, a recent survey of 117 CEO’s throughout the U.S. by the Business Roundtable found that 56 percent expect to increase their business investment in the first half of 2006. Although the positive outlook does not necessarily always mean fewer job cuts – mergers and acquisitions often lead to restructuring layoffs -- it will lead to increased hiring as companies shift priorities, according to Challenger. Microsoft and Google Lead the Way The big players also offer a valuable barometer by which to measure the health of the tech job market. CIO’s at the largest employers (companies with 1,000 employee’s or more) are most optimistic about adding IT staff as in the second quarter of 2006, according to the IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. “Many CIO’s are adding IT personnel gradually to support recent business growth,” Lee said. “Competition is rising for professionals skilled in the hottest applications and specialties, and multiple offers are increasingly common.” Software giant Microsoft says it will add 4,000 to 5,000 jobs this year, of which 40 percent will be in the U.S. A spokeswoman for the Redmond, WA.-based company said the vast majority will be based in the Puget Sound region. Google currently has nearly 5,000 employees, up from approximately 3,000 at the end of 2004. There are 700 new job openings posted on its Web site. A Google spokeswoman said the search firm was continuing to hire the highest quality talent worldwide “to scale with the growth our business.” However, she would not provide specifics. Jobs in Demand Although industry analysts say the need for workers will stretch from coast to coast, and incorporate a wide range of opportunities, as always, some will find themselves more in demand then others. Those who can expect to receive the heaviest recruitment are employees with extensive Microsoft Windows administration skills, network management experience, and SQL Server management, according to the IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. However, professional opportunities will not be limited to expanding IT departments. “Things are looking very good all around,” Economy.com’s Singh said. Tim Gray works in New York City as a freelance reporter covering the technology industry.
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