 INDUSTRY STUDY SHOWS HIGH TECH WORKER DEMAND SLOWING
According to a study from the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), the demand for high tech workers is down 44 percent from last year, but employers will still face a shortage of qualified applicants. The report says that worker demand is down from 1.6 million positions in 2000 to 900,000 in 2001, and places the cause of the decline on the slowing economy. Another reason, they say, for the decline is the increased number of workers with tech skills. The overall number of people employed in high tech positions has increased from 10 million in 2000 to 10.4 million in 2001.
Critics say that the report shows that the high tech worker shortage has been greatly exaggerated, and that programs to educate existing US workers are effective. They add that recruitment of workers among minorities and women continues to be low. It may be for the best that demand for tech workers in the US is slowing, because high tech industries are growing in other countries, and demand for foreign high tech workers is increasing around the world.
The ITAA has supported increases in the annual H-1B visa cap. It expects that the cap will not be reached this year. The President of the ITAA, Harris Miller, is pleased by this prediction, saying, “we've always said all we want in an H-1B visa program is a reasonable cap, and the marketplace will determine the actual demand.” The report indicates that this may be the case.
A summary of the report is available online at http://www.itaa.org/workforce/studies/01execsumm.htm
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