Perspective: High-tech jobs recovery? Don't believe the hype

Ask IT leaders about the high-tech economy these days, and they'll no doubt tell you about the dramatic nationwide recovery, the rapid growth of jobs and the subsequent rise in technology employment levels.

Many have even said they can't hire skilled workers fast enough, despite an abundance of available jobs.

These assessments stand in stark contrast to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest national employment figures, however, which showed far fewer jobs added in June than economists or business leaders had projected.

The tech sector, most notably, is suffering from the longest jobless recovery since World War II, having lost more than 400,000 jobs since the start of the March 2001 recession. The recession "officially" ended in November that same year, but for thousands of American tech workers, such claims of a full-blown IT rebound are vastly exaggerated.

According to a recent study prepared by the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Urban Economic Development (click here for a PDF of the full report), only 76,300 new IT jobs were created nationwide during the last three years. That's less than one quarter of the number of tech jobs lost earlier in the decade.

The news isn't all bad, of course. At the national level, the CUED study suggests that a modest recovery may actually be starting. Pockets of the United States--namely Seattle and Washington, D.C.--have bounced back of late and surpassed 2001 job totals.

But in markets like Los Angeles and Boston, things are much bleaker. While annual IT employment in L.A. grew sharply between 1999 and 2000, it has been declining ever since. All told, more than 20 percent of that market's tech jobs have disappeared, with no sign of a local turnaround in sight. Dallas, Chicago and other markets are equally anemic.

Discerning the truth in this jumble of economic data is certainly not easy.

Large technology companies claim they have so much work to spread around that recruiters can't find enough skilled American workers to fill the cubicles in their high-tech campuses. That's why Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates made a trip to Capitol Hill recently to try and persuade lawmakers to increase the number of immigration visas for engineers, developers and other skilled professionals his company hopes to lure from other nations.

Yet at the same time, large numbers of unemployed tech workers are being turned away outright or are forced to take temporary positions far below their skill level, with reduced pay levels adding insult to injury. Worse yet, tens of thousands of manufacturing and call-center support jobs are being shipped overseas to low-wage companies. Projections for the next decade suggest that 3.3 million U.S. industry jobs and $136 billion in wages will move offshore to countries such as India, Russia, China and the Philippines.

IT has been called the industry of the future, but the future for tech workers is threatened by corporate strategies and federal policies that simply aren't in the best interest of America's work force.

Government plays a critical role in compounding this problem. Federal and state tax subsidies routinely encourage companies to move jobs offshore, and the H-1B visa program allows businesses to essentially import foreign workers at lower costs, often leaving American workers with highly specialized technical skills out in the cold.

The spread of IT during the 1990s fueled the resurgence of the U.S. economy, in part by creating thousands of living-wage jobs that supported families and strengthened communities in need. And there's little doubt that information technology innovations will continue to significantly affect economies and the way we live. IT workers have the skills and the vision to bring those innovations to life, but private and public policies must support their efforts.

The time has come for industry and government leaders to align their words with their actions. We need an economic agenda that leverages our nation's greatest assets to create sustainable, good paying jobs in the U.S.--not for tech workers alone, but for all workers.

Biography
Marcus Courtney is president of WashTech/CWA, a union of high-tech workers.

More Perspectives

[jacobsrl]

A little biased don't you think?

To have the president of a union of high tech workers write an article like this is hard to swallow. Of course union leaders want everybody to believe that their job is in jeapordy. IT is one of the least unionized fields because when things are going well you just don't need a union.

Hype? Yes, but on the other side. The "hype" of the gloom and doomers will always be with us. If you want to have job security, try advancing your skills - in my 20 years in the IT industry I have never seen anyone who stays sharp struggling to stay employed. I have on the other hand seen the disastrous results of unions convincing people that they will protect them while they kick back and wait for those contract negotiated raises to come flooding in.

People with this kind of mindset are the ones who are in the greatest danger of having their work taken away by IT workers in other countries.

[Vurk]

Nope; not at all

Since this is a *commentary,* saying this guy is biased is ridiculous; everybody has a bias.

As far as tech jobs go, he is right on the money. Unlike our friendly Republican, jacobsrl, I live in Seattle and I know what it is like to try and get ahead in the tech industry.
Jacob say "stay ahead to get ahead"; but what he doesnt address is the problem of starting out: there are no entry-level jobs left int he tech industry. You cant start out as a call-center persn and use that to advance in the industry, there are no "mailroom" jobs left, jacob doesnt seem to realize, from his cushy insiders view, that there is no longer a way in from the outside.
If a person gets an advanced degree in one area of tech, their prospective employer will tell them they are "overskilled" and cost too much; if a person tailors their skillset to match that of their employer, they will be told they are "underskilled" and rejected for the position.
Unless you are lucky or have a way into the industry that is not skill-related(i.e. friends who hire you or brown-nosing), you are not going to find it easy or worthwhile to gain employment in the tech industry based on skills alone.
So, dont believe the employers hype, that is just there to put more Americans out of work (see Bill Gates comments about lack of workers even though tech workers are a dime a dozen in Seattle); but also dont believe the tech union peoples "doom and gloom" either. As jason points out, unions, while a good idea, are basically in it for the money also.

[since1974]

outdated skills the problem? baloney!

Just advance your skills and stay employed?
Pure drivel!

I have had most of my work options vanish as Indian slave labor has been made more and more accessable via enlarged visa programs and "offshoring". That is, of course, if you need more than the new slave wages.

And as far as advanced skills, I have not just kept up with new skills, but actually written/published articles (most recently on AJAX development) in major technical magazines on a regular basis over the past 5 years.

Skills arent the issue with clueless corporate middle-management when it comes to hiring technical talent; they are only following top-level management's latest fad. No one has the nerve to say the Emperor has no clothes. Unfortunately, by the time they find out it doesnt really save money because programming wasnt really where the money was wasted in a corporation, those of us out of work all that time may not survive to come back.

[Alien8d]

Sounds convincing but...

...when you read he's the had of a high-tech union you begin to get the picture. It IS hard to find qualified candidates for jobs. I see many tech openings sitting out there for months and months.

[Jake Leone]

Bosses like to hang the threat of h-1b over american workers heads

Recently, in my performance review, I was told that my company could hire any h-1b to replace me.

I am very highly rated. If you used A,B,C F as your rating scale, I have a B+. Many people in my same department recieved C's.

My boss is new, and he has a history of hiring cronies and h-1ber's (I read his resume, he is proud to have brought over several friends at a previous job, that he was later fired from). This is sad, because my previous boss was promoted (due to the hard work of the people who worked for her, myself included).

I am happy the h-1b cap has been reached, it keeps me safe while I look for a new company. I've spent 7 years, with a high rating throughout, seen several C-level colleagues fired (only americans BTW). And while I don't believe in "Entitlement", you know I can't stand complete utter lameness in a new-hire boss.

Frankly bad communication is the same price as good communication, any boss worth their salt will tell you this. I need to feel needed at a company, not just tossed off. Or worse, like a piece of beef at a cattle auction.