Shortfall of IT Workers Remains
The 2001 IT Staffing and Compensation Guide compiled by META Group, and based interviews with over 500 compensation and IT specialists, reports a shortfall of 600,000 workers, particularly those with IT skills in areas such as:
· networking,
· Web development,
· database management,
· supply chain collaboration,
· Java,
· business-to-business integration, and
· commerce chain management.
The gap represents a modest degree of staffing relief for employers, who are enduring a five-year IT worker shortage that peaked at nearly one million in 2000.
As demand outpaces supply, compensation for technology workers over their non-IT counterparts has increased significantly. On the subject of remuneration, the survey found that
· Almost 70% of respondents pay IT employees 10% to 20% more than their other workers, compared with only 42% of companies in last year’s survey.
· Three-fifths of the sample offer bonuses to IT employees, compared to 50% last year.
In addition, the report found a reduced concern over retention. Some 60% of respondents still view it as a serious issue, compared to 77% in 2000, while 40% no longer see it as their chief concern, as opposed to 24% in 2000.