Good technologists are hard to find - NOT?

One article tells us there

One article tells us there is a shortage of skilled IT workers, but the link right next to it tells us that salaries are flat and that raises for IT workers are actually lagging behind other workers. Which is it? If there is a shortage, the laws of supply and demand would cause wages to rise. This is clearly not the case. Will there be IT jobs in America's future? Sure, but low salaries and job insecurity means that it will not be worth the effort required to get and keep those jobs. You can't graduate from college with a degree in IT and step right into a project management role (at least you shouldn't be able to). The people crying about the lack of technical skills never seem to have any. Forget IT/CS and prepare for a job in America's core competency: Retail Management.

After the hell I went

After the hell I went through in the early 2000's, I wouldn't recommend IT to anybody. I had a Microsoft executive lecture me about the "shortage of IT workers", and I was flat unemployed at the time. Sales and marketing is where the future is. Brains are becomming a cheap commodity. Schmooze or Looz.

Dear M. Mitchell You should

Dear M. Mitchell

You should get on your bended knees and apologize Not just to the American works you so blithely insult. But to those works overseas were jobs are sent. Your posturing and maneuvering to explain away, you simply making and inaccurate statement. As is well stated in preceding comments. Call Center jobs are NOT IT jobs.

All of this make for even more disgusting reading, because those that jobs are being sent to, are being lied to just as equally as those from whom the jobs are taken. There is NO shortage of skilled labor, the jobs a NOT going to those that have better or equal skills. Let stop the lying and deceiving, the reason jobs a moving from anywhere to anywhere is so exec's and Wall street can have MORE, more money, more bonuses, more more more for fewer and fewer people.

And Mr Mitchell your job is not far behind. After all who's going to be left to read your fawning words. Oh unless maybe you are learning Hindu? But even then, how long do you think the jobs will stay in India or any other low paid location. That's the value add to the deceit, the jobs will depart from the sub-continent as quickly as they arrived.

The ONLY off shoring protection anyone has is to work for LESS than anyone else. For anyone to think they can garner some special skills or training is to fly in the face of the truth. Unless you ARE one of those exec's, your job is going to go to who ever is cheapest.

For the older generations there is probably be done, it is to those presently in collage under which a fire must be light. A fire as momentous as that which took hold of the spirit and body of our founding fathers. One which, in like manner to our revolutionary patriots said, NO - there is better than this, It is time for us to reinvent America again, Our system has become lacks and sour, it has becomes as corrupt and self serving as the British tyrants we threw off were. Time for the people to reclaim what is there.

Having been in IT for all of

Having been in IT for all of my life and watching the destruction of our industry I would tell anyone who is considering a career in IT to do something else. Don't waste your money on a worthless college degree. The college professors are still bleating the mantra of 'get a degree and be successful'. This is an absolute crock. The CxO's are hiring H1B's with fake college degrees for low dollars and with minimal experience. Why? To fatten their wallets and the shareholder wallet.

Spend your money on learning to be a mechanic or a plumber. Jobs always in demand and cannot be outsourced to an H1B. You will make good money and always have a job.

Who knows. Maybe one day

Who knows.

Maybe one day people won't think of jobs on a nationalist basis.

I have been looking for work

I have been looking for work in the New York IT market for the past year and have noticed that the trend is towards contract-to-hire, rather than full-time. Like the poster above who noted the desired skills now border on preposterous (for the money), I have seen fewer jobs that I am qualified for at the rate being offered. I recently got a job as an IT Manager in my field and I am grateful; but it is at roughly the same comp I was making 2 years ago.

Like the CIO who posted above, I believe that flexibility and business skills are not just icing; they are the meat and potatoes of any IT worker of the future. Looking down the road, I see IT becoming more commoditized and globalized; local workers will have to face the same challenges as foreign workers. As a result, IT will probably pay less for a time. However, changing technologies will drive constant change and if you can keep up, local knowledge is a very strong asset.

I still believe in America, our culture and our ability to innovate. Who knows? Maybe workers in India and China will one day be complaining that all the bloody Americans are stealing back American jobs!

I believe that this is just

I believe that this is just a trend in the IT department meaning that with the changes happening in the business, they also have to adapt with it. In this case, I believe that there is enough place for everyone who wants a career in IT.

An interesting article that

An interesting article that pretty much debunks the IT professional shortage theory.

March 03, 2006
Data Shows America’s Job Growth Benefits Immigrants, Outsourcers

by Paul Craig Roberts

Information technology workers and computer software engineers have been especially heavily hit by offshore jobs outsourcing. During the past five years (Jan 01 - Jan 06), the information sector of the US economy lost 645,000 jobs or 17.4% of its work force. Computer systems design and related lost 116,000 jobs or 8.7% of its work force. Clearly, jobs outsourcing is not creating jobs in computer engineering and information technology. Indeed, jobs outsourcing is not even creating jobs in related fields.

Additionally, the Reagan Economist writes...

If offshore jobs outsourcing is good for US employment, why won’t the US Department of Commerce release the 200-page, $335,000 study of the impact of the offshoring of US high-tech jobs?

The Senate is considering a massive increase of non-immigrant work visas (H1B etc.) and a guest-worker program with Mexico this week (Mar.27.06). Basically, the Senate wants to give away the jobs at the top -- and the jobs at the bottom.

Visit www.numbersusa.com to fax and call your Representative -- get involved.

http://www.numbersusa.com

I extend an invitation to

I extend an invitation to those who post here to send me your stories and experiences (as well as your opinions) via e-mail. I would very much like to follow up with some of you for a possible future story on this topic (Don't worry, you can remain anonymous if that's your preference). You can reach me at robert_mitchell@computerworld.com.

I too, worked my way

I too, worked my way (arguably) up, over the course of 20+ years, from a programmer to a well-seasoned database administrator. I managed to leap from the mainframe world, to Unix and Oracle, where I have been quite happy with what I do. I truly enjoy being a technician, and have no desire to move into management. Until recently, I worked as a contractor-for-hire, most of this time for a division of what is considered to be the most powerful US company in the world (no, not Halliburton).

Some time ago they went down the off-shore path, quietly, almost insidiously at first. Bringing in H1-Bs to get to know the lay of the land, then sending them back to their homeland to share this knowledge, in the hopes of reaping further cost-savings by shifting the work there. Soon, the company employees (technicians) were all replaced with contractors, both US and foreign. Then came the push to replace all of the US contractors with all foreign contractors, with a few exceptions in areas where there were regulations in place restricting foreign access to certain information.

Some of us were therefore offered opportunities to remain and administer these restricted processes (at a much reduced bill rate of course), while others were shown the door, some with time remaining on contracts that were obviously not worth the paper they were printed on. I for one, turned down the offer and chose to leave, despite not having any immediate prospects. Foolish? Perhaps, but having dealt with the folly of this transition for so long, I could not remain.

Perhaps the saddest part of this tale is that, any company managers (typically the good ones) who spoke up in opposition to this grand plan, ala "The Emperor Has No Clothes", pointing out the cultural, communication, and just down-right skills, issues, were, in nearly every case, summarily dismissed, replaced by other, less skilled, sycophantic managers who, of course, said the Emperor's suit was just lovely.

I was fortunate in that I was finally able to find a position elsewhere, leaving behind my contracting days, and becoming a "real" person (employee) at a smaller company which, while it is certainly growth-oriented, will never become a vast global enterprise.

How many other such positions are out there for the rest of my IT brothers and sisters? Or, for those would-be newbies considering entering this field?

Too few, I fear. Good luck to us all, as I second each and every anti- H1-B visa, and offshore outsourcing sentiment expressed by others in this blog.