I am 34 and am contemplating a career in IT.
Are there any opinions on which Information Technology sector or jobs are least likely to be outsourced?
Areas that require anything hands on is safe and growing. IT Project management appears to be doing well here in NC as well.
Entry level and management. IOW, the not quite competent.
“I am 34 and am contemplating a career in IT.”
There are still options but pay is lower and consider any job you get to be temporary.
“Are there any opinions on which Information Technology sector or jobs are least likely to be outsourced?”
CIOs probably won’t be outsourced. Everything else in IT is fair game.
I've been contemplating getting out of IT, but I can't think of a skill I can leverage for a decent living. :)
If you look at that list of jobs-at-risk, all IT/software dev jobs are at great risk or have gone offshore.
I work for a Fortune 500 company that does both hardware and software. They see their future customer base in China and India, so they’re setting up offices offshore that include sales, R&D, QA, tech writing, and graphic design depts. Not to mention the salaries are cheaper.
Many of the depts here have lost jobs, as they move existing positions offshore, too.
They are also acquiring small software companies, many of which already base their R&D offshore.
Project mgrs (with PMP certification) and higher-ups with MBAs have a better chance of surviving for a while longer. But even some MBA programs are requiring that US students reside in China or India for a time. Some companies (Cisco?) are moving US managers offshore.
My suggestion to you is look elsewhere, espcially if you are new to the field of IT.
IT is a good field, but programming knowledge WITH business knowledge is where to be. If you can provide a business solution as well as a IT solution, you will be a very valuable asset.
I work in with the ERP (Enterprise Resource Package) SAP. And SAP consultants are in high demand. I am a developer (SAP ABAP language) as well as a configurator (someone who "flips the switches" to deliver a specific business process).
If you desire a field in IT, consider pursuing a career in SAP and focus on business knowledge: Logistics, Production Planning (MRP), Finance, HR mgmt, Purchasing, etc.. Take a look on Monster.com or DICE.com a put in SAP and ABAP in the search and you will see quite a few open positions.
I’ve worked in tech support for a few years now and have been “under the gun” most of that time.
It really depends on your income requirements and your ability to be flexible. Any position in IT, now, needs to have two or three main skill sets, and a smattering of three to five more.
What are your interests?
Management and jobs that are customer facing. Project managers and program managers, businaess analysts to a lesser extent. Software developers are at most risk.
IT is one of the *first* areas outsourced, as the legend/myth/wishful thinking of management is that India and China are overrun with people who speak flawless English, have IQs of 220+, and work for $7,000/yr.
I've done QA on Indian code, and the above is manifestly untrue, but management continues to believe it.
Must be LSD in the executive water cooler.
The Chinese do good work but will steal your trade secrets.
Project management is a decent area, however; or if you can get a job cleaning up the mess the Indians left behind, you can do pretty well.
If someone *is* going to outsource code work, I'd go to Russia for it. Or Israel.
Cheers!
“My reason for posting this is that my job was recently outsourced.
I am 34 and am contemplating a career in IT.”
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Frying Pan. Meet fire...
I’m in IT at a large multinational - which was once part of a large American company. I’ve watched 75% of my US co-workers walked to the door in the last 5 years. Our office has lost so many staff, there are rows of empty cubes now.
It’s only a matter of time before all the rest of us are gone.
However I’ve noticed the reason those of us who are still there, are still there, is we provide quick, innovative value to our customers using a degree of specialized understanding of the technology and the industry.
Seems to meet the description in the original article, and I would tend to agree with most of those points.
In this poster’s opinion, there’s about to be the mother of all political backlashes against companies outsourcing American jobs.
Which might just be a good thing. Nothing good comes, from dumbing down and de-industrializing America.
Nothing.