IT Jobs To Drop In 2009 393
ruphus13 writes "A new Goldman Sachs IT report recently released states that IT jobs will be dramatically reduced in 2009, starting with contract and offshore developers. From the article: 'Sharp reductions likely in contract staff, professional services and hardware, and almost no investment in cloud computing.' The article goes on to say 'The CIOs indicated that server virtualization and server consolidation are their No. 1 and No. 2 priorities. Following these two are cost-cutting, application integration, and data center consolidation. At the bottom of the list of IT priorities are grid computing, open-source software, content management and cloud computing (called on-demand/utility computing in the survey) — less than 2% of the respondents said cloud computing was a priority.' Postulating a 'pointy haired boss' problem, an analyst goes on to say, '[Grid computing, Open Source and Cloud computing] require a technical understanding to get to their importance. I don't think C-level executives and managers have that understanding.' But they do control the paychecks ..."
and after the downturn, a bounceback (Score:2, Informative)
The same thing will happen again. If there is going to be a tough time (and we're certainly talking ourselves into it) then all it means is that new stuff will be delayed a bit. However, during that time we'll be able to filter out all the froth and hype, leaving us to get on with the good stuff when the money returns.
It's not the end of the world, just be patient.
Another empty pundit pontificating (Score:4, Informative)
Goldman Sachs IT, eh? Yesterday it was Gartner. These are guys with funded track records of largely failure, IMHO. I wouldn't give them much creedence. The industry is ripe and rife with change, be it the blossoming of mobiles/cells to the enormous competitiveness of online commerce platforms, incredible changes in entertainment delivery systems, etc.
There's a small problem in the US economy that will actually be improved no matter who is elected US president, as it always is a honeymoon between investors and the new government every four years. And it's very likely that with a new regime will come a drastic cut in oil prices.... further spurring money back into tech, where we've made the most gains in the past few decades.
Gotta love a doom sayer; it's done so they can by the stock cheaper now, then sell it higher later. This is called capitalism, and the propaganda is called marketing.
Not quite (Score:3, Informative)
It is taking fewer and fewer people to do jobs that used to take more people to do them. Cuts in the overall number of IT jobs will continue for quite awhile. This is especially true in front line jobs like IT support and Help Desk. The former are fewer because hardware has become more redundant and commoditized; it's easy to just plop a new box down or have your redundant drives/servers take over the load while you get around to fixing it. The latter are fewer because more and more organizations are moving towards 'self healing' and 'self help' type support models.
Re:I guess it's time to jump ship (Score:1, Informative)
I don't think you are wrong, but healthcare is increasingly under pressure to reduce its costs- I am sure you have noticed that insurance costs have really skyrocketed over the past ten years. At some point something is going to have to give, and there will likely be systemic changes in the healthcare system as we know it. Whether it will affect the general rank and file workforce, the doctors/specialists at the top, or the businesses supplying equipment the most is tough to say (as is whether it will even hurt or help any of these groups), but change does seem to be on the horizon.
I know people that have been in the industry for awhile, and it is similar to being a teacher in that the hours can be very family friendly, and while the profession will never make you rich, you can live solidly in the middle class and with dual incomes in the upper middle class as nurse, and the stress tends to be low, though the job can often be quite unpleasant. There are a range of levels of nurses as well- I know one that made ~50k working with children with behavioral disabilities ( turrets, etc) and another RN at the top end of the scale that makes 75-85k (depending on the amount of OT) a year in the NY area at a large hospital.
Also keep in mind that while healthcare can also seem like an impossible to outsource job, this is probably not true. Google "virtual assistants" to see how a profession that seemingly requires a physical presence can be done remotely. I have read some blogs about these services, and not by shills, at least as far as I can tell, and they seem to be quite happy with the services they provide.
Just some things to chew on.
Re:Truck driving school here I come! (Score:2, Informative)
I'm thrilled. Career change in my late 30s, I'm in nursing school, loving every minute of it, and when you finish a rotation, you get the hard sell from that department. That's just the icing on the cake!
I suppose people who work in IT could work in healthcare programming and support. Hospitals use computers, too. Really!
Re:I doubt.. (Score:2, Informative)
Well having to have had to manage a team in the Phillipines, miscommunications, missed deadlines, inability to follow instructions, redundant programming, lack of teamwork or cooperation, poor scheduling and more makes the low pay only part of the cost when the overall expense of the project eventually becomes 5-10 times what it needed to be had we hired local developers.
Outsourcing only pays off for VERY well managed and VERY well organized 3rd party organizations that you can trust 100% and as a rule, they don't exist because they don't exist ANYWHERE. You need to have an onsite presence much like IBM and Microsoft has in order for offshoring to really payoff. Otherwise you are not saving anything and may even be paying more... regardless of what some pitchman may tell you.
Agreed. We are dealing with massive turnover, double digit inflation, and worst of all regular power outages in India. Oh, generators you say? Try affording the diesel to power those generators during the daily outages.
All for less than half the productivity of the states.
Re:Truck driving school here I come! (Score:5, Informative)
When you say looking for IT jobs in an 'ad', are you meaning the local newspaper? They're not there anymore. Try monster.com, or other places. There are tons of jobs out there in IT across the country. Ok...maybe in your particular city...you might not find lots of opportunities, but, the days of staying put for a job for life are gone, in just about any field. You may have to broaden your search and be willing to relocate.
If you have 46+ years experience...look into contracting!! Good bill rates...and if you play it right, you can work 6-12 months...take off for 3-4 months and enjoy life.
If you don't wanna work indie at first (if you do PLEASE incorporate, look into a "S" corp and the tax benefits of it), look into working for a contract house. YOu are a W2 employee for them, and they send you out to gigs. This is a great way to ease into the thing. Also, if you get lucky...maybe you can get into a DoD gig this way...and get a clearance. You get that...it will definitely help you get future jobs.
Don't give up...there are IT jobs and money to be made at it, but, you may need to change your views on how and where you work.
Re:IT field avoidance should be a no-brainer (Score:1, Informative)
same for Australia, all strong here
Senior Java Programmer, Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne = $150-$250kpa with a very strong Aussie dollar and absolutely no signs of slowing (quite the opposite)
Re:IT field avoidance should be a no-brainer (Score:1, Informative)
As another poster already said, you really either need to do your research or not automatically assume other countries are in as dire a position as the US. Here in Australia many of the capital cities have chronic shortages of qualified IT Workers. I work with many of the Australian Government departments and they are so massively understaffed in every IT department that they are having to cut back on projects as they simply can't get the people to do them. I actually work for a large multinational and even we are struggling massively with staff shortages that we simply can't fill (and we are one of the highest paying companies in the industry).
for instance I am currently sitting in a section of one government department, they should have 35 IT staff here and they have 19 and have been in a constant process of searching for more staff for the last 3 years, basically at the moment there is a glut of jobs with not enough people to do them.
Re:IT field avoidance should be a no-brainer (Score:3, Informative)
Don't extrapolate the US's crappy economy to countries you know nothing about, thanks.
Agreed. Come to Norway with a nice skillset and hold up a poster saying "IT dude want work" at the airport. Headhunters in 3, 2, 1...
With the current exchange rates, the salary might also be pretty decent.