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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

IT Consulting News: Recent Study Proves Greater Tech Hiring in U.S.

In spite of the trend for American companies to transfer IT consulting and other technology work overseas, a new study shows that the need for U.S. technology workers continues to grow.

The professional development organization, The Association for Computing Machinery released a study last Thursday that claims giving IT jobs to India or China isn’t really a threat to U.S. IT consulting work. This development organization includes academic, government and industry officials from the IT industry.

The study states that only about two to three percent of IT consulting jobs will be lost per annum to lower-wage developing companies through offshoring. But the U.S. IT industry’s growth will be faster than that loss, and the opportunities for IT professionals involved in software architecture, product design, product management and IT consulting will increase.

Experts say that the technology industry in the U.S. is even better than it was during the dot.com boom and predict that it will continue to grow during the next decade along with the opportunities for those involved in the IT profession. One factor in this growth is the use of offshoring by U.S. companies, including start-up firms that limit their costs and grow businesses. This phenomenon creates more opportunities for U.S. workers at the same time as it grows IT consulting firms overseas.

The study noted that companies from many different parts of the economy that invest in IT solutions are always discovering ways to be more efficient and competitive within their respective industries. Presumably, this trend will continue to grow as businesses need to hire IT consulting firms and other IT professionals to stay afloat. Health caree, retail trade, construction and many other services will begin to make more investments in technology as the years progress. Even though technological progress has been great in recent years, bringing about low-cost broadband links with India and China, there are still many reasons U.S. companies will not want to outsource jobs to other countries.

Many parents believe that the IT field does not have good prospects, which is causing students to opt against studying IT fields. Tighter visa restrictions will also prevent more workers from coming to the U.S. to work, thus leaving more jobs for those currently in IT consulting businesses and related fields.

Blogged By: Computer Consulting 101