Getting NetSmart - Your work concerns

Your work concerns
IT execs worried about network security, budgets and training

Network World, 08/07/02

Last year, IT folks were still gripping to dreams of fast cars and plentiful stock options as perks that would lure them away from their jobs. This year, the reality is much different. Quality of life, flexibility and stability are all the buzzwords that are flying around in the ears of job applicants. The days of working miserably long hours in the hopes of cashing in on the company's profits are waning.

In fact, the esteemed editors of Network World's annual You Issue, which details the professional and off-the-beaten-path lives of IT executives, found that stock options and the likelihood of the company going public were two of the lowest priorities you now have for job satisfaction.

That said, your top priorities are as follows: benefits package (insurance, etc.), challenge of work, job security, overall compensation, base salary, access to new technologies, and professional development and training.

Who heard of base salary back in the heyday of the dot-com era? Back then, you could get paid squat and instead hold out for a piece of the proverbial pie. Perhaps too many IT executives never got a chance to see that payoff.

The whole list has a more huggy-feely tone to it, from the relatively high ranking of family friendliness to the need for recognition and the concern about whether there is enough leave. A few years ago, family vacations were not really a part of the plan. More likely you would have asked if your office came with a pullout bed so you wouldn't miss any work hours.

Still at the top of your concerns list, though is the ever-present threat of hackers in your network. You also are worried about getting enough money out of the corporate bean counters and whether you'll be able to acquire enough skills in emerging technologies to keep yourselves marketable and your network on the cutting edge.

You count improving your business skills among your top concerns as well as the constant challenge of keeping your employees trained. And you struggle mightily between choosing a great quality of life and high pay. I maintain that over the next few years, quality of life will win out.

Hanging at the bottom of your concerns list is chasing the opportunity presented by employment at a dot-com company. Interestingly, you're also not really worried about creating applications for mobile devices or migrating to Gigabit Ethernet.

Technology overall is still your biggest concern with management coming a distant second. Within each of these areas, security and project management are the biggest challenges.

What do you think? Do you feel more in touch with your home life than you did a few years ago? Do you want more quality time with your family or are you content working those extra hours for the big bucks payoff? Let me know at sgittlen@nww.com

The You Issue

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