Down To Business: Talent Shortage? Employers Must Take Some Of The Rap

Information Week ^ | 03/05/2007 | Rob Preston

[Tax-chick]

Sweeping government programs are all well and good

Actually, sweeping government programs are pretty much all bad. In fact, you could say that just about any shortage of workers is caused significantly by two "sweeping government programs": government education and abortion.

(Yes, I know it's a stretch calling abortion a government program, but I was going with the trope. Think figuratively!)

[Non-Sequitur]

I work in IT program management. I started as a programmer and firmly believe that my technical skills make me a better program and project manager because I have a feel for what the software developers need to do their job correctly. And I also wonder where the next generation of project management is going to come from if we continue to decimate the domestic software development pool. I lead project managers without any technical background and I find they're not as effective as those who do have that experience.

[Admin Moderator]

"Tech Talent Shotage ? Employers Must Take Some of the Rap" is not the title of the published article.

Please do not alter titles.

[dakine]

"...new skills, new locations, new industries."

My COBOL/FORTRAN/Burroughs' skills aren't good enough....

[sionnsar]

Learn assembler.

[GOP_1900AD]

The real problem is that there is a semi artificial deflationary market environment. With all the Communist and quasi Communist countries now dumping and undercutting Western prices, companies are under immense cost reduction pressure. This leads to that "you're luck you have a job, we could RIF you any minute" mentality, etc. Maybe Freaked Trade is not what it was depicted to be.

[dakine]

hahaha....On the resume somewhere...

[redgolum]

For one thing, "employee engagement" is near an all-time low, observes Tom Casey, VP of human capital at the Concours Group. That's management consulting speak for the fact that tech pros are demoralized, thanks to knee-jerk offshore outsourcing and the post-bubble malaise. Many of their employers hail from the "you should be happy you have a job" school of management. As a result, Casey says, IT pros are all-too-anxious to switch companies, even careers. And given the market uncertainly, they're advising their kids to steer clear of the profession--at least according to many disillusioned readers who responded to my last column.

Feedback cycle. As more citizens leave IT and other tech fields, more will be off shored, which will lead to more leaving the tech field.

We were an agricultural economy, became a manufacturing economy, and are now leaving the service economy. What is next?

[sionnsar]

Mine too. From FORTRAN to Nova assembler, on the job no less.

I even see jobs from time to time that only require C, though my development platforms these days are Word and Powerpoint. *\:-(

[duckman]

"My COBOL/FORTRAN/Burroughs' skills aren't good enough...."
How about EZTRIEVE, big market for that!

[raybbr]

Meantime, if you can't find the right job but insist you have all the right skills and are doing all the right things (a common refrain among readers), "take a good look at the jobs you're pursuing and the competencies that you have," Casey says. "You need to consider re-inventing yourself"--yes, new skills, new locations, new industries. Employees must step up as well.

Sounds like Greenspan-speak.

"All the world's a virtual stage...

That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

[Mr. Jeeves]

Many of their employers hail from the "you should be happy you have a job" school of management.

Well, that's CEO-think. Many of us hiring managers would love to hire US talent - regardless of cost - but the big bosses won't let us. Part of it is that few companies really understand the potential positive impact of IT on their businesses - in many industries it remains a cost to be ruthlessly controlled, like the electric bill. ;)

[BRITinUSA]

Businesses have bought this on themselves. What is the point in learning IT skills in college when employers keep sending those jobs overseas.

Those same employers then decry the lack of skilled college graduates. What student is going to spend 4 years and tens of thousands of dollars on an education to get a job that gets out-sourced to India?

[AreaMan]

Here is a quote from a book titled Die Broke:

“The answer is quit today: mentally separate yourself from your employer and realize that you’re on your own. Abandon any remaining tinges of loyalty to your employer (who long ago abandoned any sense of obligation to you) and instead think of your job and yourself the same way free-agent athletes do.” (Pollan & Levine 1997, 11)

Yes, there are unique drivers when it comes to the IT world but this is the underlying attitude.

[Alberta's Child]

You raise a good point, but I don't believe the deflationary factors you described have as much influence as you think. I belong to an advisory group for an engineering school, and just last week I had a long conversation with someone whose company can't even fill positions that pay $40k-$50k starting salaries to people with two-year degrees in tech-related fields.

My biggest problem in my company is that I have a hard time finding people who are flexible and broadly educated -- not just "trained" to do tasks that may be obsolete next month.

[2ndDivisionVet]

One possible answer: Make the Philippines a state or states (Most Filipinos speak English and many are college educated, yet currently underemployed)
http://www.useless-knowledge.com/politics/index.html

[2ndDivisionVet]

Sorry, bad link, here is that article: http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/jan/article528.html

[SirLinksalot]

Make the Philippines a state or states

How is this going to solve the IT shortage problem ?

1) Do Filipinos want to be an American State ?

2) Assuming the answer is yes ( which I highly doubt ), you'll have a state that supplies cheap labor... is that the intent ?

3) At any rate, if it's cheap Philippines IT labor you want, you don't need to go to the extent of reclaiming them. Outsourcing your work could do the job as well.