What the economic crisis means for tech hiring
October 6, 2008 by Valerie HelmbreckPosted in: Budgets and spending, Communication, Compliance, IT employment, Information security, Software, Special Report
The ripple effects of the U.S. economic crisis will be felt in every industry, even the once-booming tech sector — which many have believed would be insulated from market woes.
Not so, unfortunately. In fact, the technology industry’s been feeling the effects of the economic downturn for nearly a year now. It’s just that not many folks were paying close attention.
In fact, venture capital — a primary fuel for the sector — all but dried up since 2007, when there were 86 venture-capital-backed IPOs in the U.S. How many have their been in 2008? Only 8.
There were no venture-backed IPOs issued in the second quarter of this year — the first time that’s happened since 1978.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, in a report released Monday (download PDF), said the venture-backed IPO market is now at a 30-year low. That means it may take longer for a company to move to a public offering.
And the lack of new IPOs can have a big impact on the IT job market and available openings for IT workers. Fewer high tech start ups almost invariably means fewer opportunities for tech talent.
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Tags: IPO, IT, public offering, start ups, technology, venture capital
October 7th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I’m sure the reason why IT jobs are scarce isn’t because of the lack of IPO’s. Lets be serious! For one thing IT jobs are expanding into so many areas; specialty areas. SAP, Oracle, SQL, Active Directory, Windows, Linux, Mac, Web Development, ERP, MRP, Cisco, Nortel, Foundry, clustering, VMware, Data Center Backup Management, specialty applications, Help Desk, hosting, etc…the list goes on forever!!! It’s IMPOSSIBLE!!! The problem is the inability for any IT person to keep up. Most companies struggle to find people because their requirements are too stringent. Like requiring a certification to even be considered for the position. Qualified candidates who could do the job or do the job with a little training are passed over and get tossed in the trash bin. How can anyone in “IT” keep up when IT is such a huge field? That’s the problem, the perception of the “IT” guy…there is no longer such a thing as an IT Guy / Gal. There are plenty of opportunities in IT still today but those qualified or likely qualified can’t fill the roll because they’re passed over for those positions due to a qualification requirement or because the individuals don’t want to relocate.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I agree with Wolfman. I work for a medium sized company where we are expected to “wear many hats”. They think nothing of having an IT person write extensive programming code as well as design and manage the network, and they think they can hire talent at minumum wage.
I struggle to keep in classes and anticipate the next technology I will need to know to do my job. Hardware and software are changing so fast I have trouble keeping up with them. I pick up the IT magazines to find articals on technology I have never heard of. I have to decide if I should spend time investigating this technology or pass it on the the pile of things that may never effect me. It is a tough call.
Yet many of the tasks I have to do daily to keep the systems working are never seen by management. I sometimes think they think I sit and wait for an emergency. Users get upset that I don’t come change ink cartridges…. They have no clue the extent of training we have to constantly seek out just to stay level with the playing feild.
The only way a company determines an IT person’s worth is when they seek to replace them. by then it is too late.