< back
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS TECH WORKER PREDICTIONS SHOW DEMAND WILL CONTINUE TO OUTPACE SUPPLY OF AVAILABLE US WORKERS
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Department of Labor, recently released its employment projections report for 1998-2008.  The new report shows growth of the labor market in the software and computer industries will be even more rapid than the Bureau predicted in its previous employment report, released in 1996.  The 1996 numbers predicted an explosive growth in demand for software workers of 138,000 workers annually, but these numbers pale in comparison with the 200,000 new workers the Bureau says will be needed in each of the next ten years to keep up with demand. 
These numbers will far outpace the supply of workers provided by US schools.  Only 46,000 people a year graduate from US colleges with degrees in the software field, and 10,000 of these are associate degrees, requiring only two years to obtain.  The gap between demand for software workers and the US supply almost certainly means the US will have to seek skilled workers from abroad, which will mean a continuation of the high-profile role of the H-1B program. 
The H-1B cap was temporarily raised to 115,000 in 1998, largely due to the efforts of the software and related industries.  One of their most effective arguments was that the additional workers were needed to address the Y2K problem.  In 2002 the annual cap will return to 65,000, but according to the BLS report, the crisis in the tech-worker market will not be over.  Therefore, it is likely that bills to lift the cap will continue to be proposed, and we may even see one passed.