IT job security plummets five times faster than nationwide average
Outsourcing to foreign locations, weak economy puts employees in peril
By
Jon Brodkin
,
Network World
, 04/02/2008
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Job security for IT professionals plummeted more than 10% from January to February of this year, far surpassing the average
job security declines seen nationwide in a rigorous analysis of U.S. employment patterns.
Nationwide for all industries, job security fell 1.9% in February, according to ScoreLogix’s Job Security Index, a tool that predicts an employed person’s probability of job loss.
IT job security fell 10.2% in February, the eighth decline in 13 months and largest drop in more than a year.
“This reduced demand for IT jobs, which has lowered job security level in the IT sector, can be attributed to outsourcing, offshoring, and relocation of production to cheaper, foreign locations,” ScoreLogix analysts state in a report sent to Network
World. “In addition, companies have reduced their investment in IT infrastructure because of lack of compelling, technologically
superior upgrades – since existing infrastructure works just fine. Besides, the economy is weak and offers every incentive
to cut costs and scale back non-essential, avoidable investments in technology related products and services.”
The Job Security Index is based on a patent-pending unemployment risk scoring model that utilizes research conducted by ScoreLogix
and analysis of economic data from government agencies and other sources.
The Index produces a number, generally well over 100, which indicates how robust job security is compared to January 1998,
when overall job security in the United States was exactly 100, according to Suresh Annappindi, founder and CEO of ScoreLogix
in Delaware.
Compared to that baseline level, the IT job security score in February of 135.3 seems good. But job security should generally
increase over time (with inevitable peaks and valleys), Annappindi notes. IT job security has dropped precipitously, from
181.5 in April 2007 and 150.6 in January of this year.
February 2008 was the only time IT job security was worse than the national average in the 13 months ScoreLogix provided data
for. In the all-industry score, job security never rose above 153.4 in 2007 and in February of this year dropped to 136.3.
The chances of an IT professional losing his or her job seems to have flatlined and probably won’t increase or decrease significantly
any time soon, Annappindi says.
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Comments (23)
doubtBy Anonymous on April 2, 2008, 8:05 pmHow long this recession period in IT sector will be?? What are the various causes for this???
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Answer to your questionBy Anonymous on April 3, 2008, 9:33 amThe answer to your question "What are the various causes for this???" Answer: George Bush and the US Congress.
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IT Job SecurityBy Anonymous on April 3, 2008, 10:01 amThanks for NAFTA Bill/Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.
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Glad to have have been part of history!By Anonymous on April 3, 2008, 10:08 amI was one of +/- 800 outsourced to another company by my former employer in February! Wow!! I feel honored. I only had 25 years with the other company. No big...
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IT Job Security Democrats fault?By Anonymous on April 3, 2008, 10:14 amDo you really think measures to ensure the richest "Americans" make more and more and more wealth is a Democratic focus?
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IT is so yesterdayBy Anonymous on April 3, 2008, 10:55 amI recently visited a Fortune 500 company's IT HQ on a consulting assignment. Of the 20000 (yes 20k!) IT workers, 15% were US citizen contractors with no benefits,...
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