Network World

I need to get my own article and call it "It's My Opinion And Only My Opinion." For years I always said, in the classrooms, once the IT industry becomes more diverse (racially as well as gender), and maybe these larger companies use a couple billion dollars -in the US- for mentoring minorities, both young and old, we'll see some change and increase in staff. IBM spent $30 million on improving and emplamenting Linux. How much could've been used in mentoring and training for those fields. (Don't worry about the punctuation it is a statemental question that will never be answered) I wonder what would happen if these companies stopped trying to make the fastest, smallest, and more complecated hardware and software and just make it <IT> simple. We'll probibly have less layoffs. Intel is the biggest example. What was the number, 10,000 layoffs before 2008? Again, this is my opinion and only my opinion.

I'm a Senior Systems Administrator with a programming and infratstructure background. (Mainframe, midrange and PC)

I have several certifications, I'm the president of a peer-to-peer IT group, and sit on the board of a Technology Council. I just do not see the jobs that these CIOs are saying they have. The job openings I have seen, well the companies do not want to pay. They want the talent and they want it cheap! I've witnessed the outsourcing of work and positions to overseas companies and see the failures that result. These CIOs should advertize the postions, be willing to pay, and trust that a qualified American Technolgy professional will adjust to the position and produce. I understand the current trend is to produce something every 3 months to the business units, but I don't see that happening with H1B Visa candidates. There is a definite difference in the business philosophy overseas and in the US. If these CIOs want to deliver service to their business units they need to offer some decent salaries and be willing to let the highly skilled American Technologist take the job.

A great example is the so called mainframe systems programmers shortage. One would think they salaries would be skyrocketing. But I see the positions going unfilled, waiting to be outsourced (or to go to a H1B Visa) in lieu of paying an American a higherwage to learn on the job, or use skills that he has for that job.

I'm pleased to see that a representative of the Society for Information Management recommends hiring entry level IT people.  I just read a SIM-sponsored research report that says that many companies eschew entry level people because they only offer skills that are easily obtained from outsourcers.  For example, why do you need to keep an in-house help desk?  Go pay for that service from someone else.  The problem is, this removes an opportunity to bring in new people who need to learn your business from the bottom, up.  Without these folks coming into the company today, five years from now you will not have the "seasoned" person you really need to have.