Career Watch: Assessing the employment outlook in IT

By Jamie Eckle, Computerworld
March 09, 2009 02:29 PM ET

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Q&A: Rich Milgram

The CEO of Beyond.com, a network of niche career communities that includes TechCareers.com, assesses the employment outlook.

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Even as mass layoffs started to hit workers in September, you remained very optimistic about the prospects for IT employment. After a few more months, has that optimism been tempered, especially after Beyond.com reported a significant decrease in IT job postings in the fourth quarter? While IT remained strong at the beginning of 2008, the recession finally began taking a toll on the IT job market. As the economy continued to weaken, IT spending and development slowed, along with the funding of new technology companies. We recognized the biggest impact in the fourth quarter of 2008, as IT jobs decreased by 3.53% over the previous quarter and showed the largest overall decrease of any industry this year.

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However, even in this extremely tight economy, it's tough not to remain optimistic about the long-term opportunities for IT professionals. While it's true that many technology initiatives have been scaled back, technology still remains a fundamental element of the world today and continues to be a catalyst for every business and industry.

Although the current market has made it difficult for IT workers to find full-time employment, we need to remember that this job trend is not unusual in the tech world. There will always be highs and lows when it comes to hiring, and once the economy begins to stabilize, the IT industry will be among the first to grow again. IT is still among the strongest industries and will prove its long-term stability and growth as businesses realize the demand to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology in the future.

Do you have any tips for people who have been looking for a job since the downturn began? The weakened economy and high unemployment rate have dramatically increased the number of qualified candidates in today's job market, making it even more difficult for job seekers to get noticed by employers. As a result, IT job seekers will need to perfect their technical skills, take advantage of new learning opportunities and look for ways to demonstrate value to employers to increase their chances of finding a job. Keep in mind that finding a job is not an exact science, so it is going to take some trial and error to determine the best job-search methods.

77% of workers said they have no desire to take their boss's job. What's more, 60% said they don't think they could do a better job than their boss.

Source: OfficeTeam survey of 602 U.S. workers, November 2008

Page compiled by Jamie Eckle.

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