Internet Outlook with Richard Wiggins | 24

East Lansing, Michigan
The Information Technology Professional Shortage: Path to Wealth for Webmasters?

By Richard Wiggins

recent New York Times headline proclaims "Software Jobs Go Begging and Threaten Technology Boom." The January 13 article, by Amy Harmon, detailed Clinton Administration plans to invest $3 million to encourage schools and businesses to retrain laid-off workers as programmers, $17 million to provide "technology resources and training" for poor people, and $8 million to build a Web site for technology employers and job seekers to find each other.

Industry and government agree that the shortage of programmers and other IT professionals is real. William McNee, a Gartner Group analyst, predicts that only 7 seven or eight IT professionals will be available for every 10 full-time job openings over the next 5 years. ("Short Supply" by Edward Cone, Informationweek, Nov 3, 1997.)

Is the situation really that dire? Or, from the point of view of the IT professional whose skills are in great demand, is the outlook for great pay and benefits that rosy? By most accounts, the shortage is real. Besides Labor Department statistics, many people rely on the quantity of Help Wanted ads for IT workers. Others hear the pronouncements of company CEOs who bemoan their inability to find qualified IT people.

Some companies even relocate to areas where the talent pool is more likely to meet their needs; one mid-Michigan firm I know of moved to Orlando so it could recruit multimedia designers from Disney and Universal Studios. The theory is that if the IT workers currently have jobs in California, Texas, or even Florida, it will be easier to "raid" other firms for talent.

The problem affects IT-oriented companies as well as firms in other industries that rely heavily on IT. Today, every industry depends on information technology, so it is hard to find a company of any size that doesn't notice the shortage of qualified IT people. Thus the shortage becomes especially problematic for industrial states whose firms need IT talent. Gail Lutey, Director of Investor Relations for Complete Business Solutions, Inc., says: Looking at the national numbers, we know the shortages are just as intense here in Michigan. Although Michigan may not have the appearance of a high tech state, Governor Engler revealed this week that there are 1500 IT companies in Michigan employing over 100,000 high tech workers. Anyone attempting to recruit IT talent is well aware that there are not enough experienced, skilled workers available to do the work we have.

This column examines the causes of the IT shortage. Besides looking at the usual suspects, we'll examine the role of Internet and Web endeavors as contributors to the shortage. Finally, we'll look at some prospects for an easing of the shortage - solutions to the "crisis" that the popular press seems to overlook.