ITAA Calls for New Collaboration on IT Workforce Challenge to Address Persistent Shortage; Dispels Myths Before Blue Ribbon Panel

Business Wire, Dec 8, 1999

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1999--

Appearing at a hearing conducted by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) today, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) presented a comprehensive view of the skills shortage in the IT marketplace and explained how the situation, if left uncorrected, threatens the competitiveness of U.S. companies and the overall economy.

The regional hearing is part of the National Research Council project on Workforce Needs in Information Technology mandated by Congress. While reaching out to groups interested in working collaboratively towards common solutions, ITAA also answered IT industry critics who use limited anecdotal evidence to question the existence of the skills shortage or to claim hiring discrimination against older workers.

"While emotional anecdotes of employment difficulties can be compelling, and individual stories concern me deeply, they are not representative of the larger workforce issues and should not be used in place of the hard data that are available to this Committee," said ITAA President Harris N. Miller. He asked the panel to see the "incredibly positive" impact of IT on the American economy, not permitting a few trees to obscure the view of the larger forest. Moreover, Miller asked the Council not to take the IT industry to task for a business practice that is fundamental to every business-hiring the best qualified applicants:

"When assessing the shortage, I respectfully ask the Committee to consider the intense competitive and performance pressures placed on IT companies as drivers of the economy. When listening to criticisms of hiring procedures, I hope the Committee will recognize that all organizations - businesses, universities, and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) itself - seek to hire the best and brightest minds with the strongest skills to accomplish the job. Appropriate skill levels play a major part in hiring decisions by all industries, not just for IT employers. That's the nature of competition."

Miller said evidence of the IT skills shortage is compelling, with IT workers earning 80 percent more than their private sector counterparts. He pointed to numerous studies documenting sky high vacancy rates, from a narrowly defined study conducted in 1998 by ITAA finding 346,000 openings to a broader gauged 1999 IDC study documenting over 700,000 openings.

The IT industry executive indicated that differences over how to characterize the skills gap are essentially academic-divorced from the market realities of every day business. "There is broad agreement on the need for improving both the skills and the number of IT workers. The only debate is classification of the problem as a 'labor market tightening' or 'a shortage.' Shortage reflects the experience of employers who live daily with the issue. Tightening reflects the views of researchers who are applying an economic theory about labor markets," Miller said.

Miller also dispelled a series of workforce myths, including those related to the hiring and retraining of older workers. Pointing to U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics data for older IT workers, he explained that the rate of unemployment for this population is just a fraction of the unemployment rate for the population as a whole. He explained suggestions that workers leave the IT industry at an earlier age are equally untrue, with the reality of new opportunities and occupational categories masked by flawed, overly restrictive data gathering methods.

Miller concluded his remarks by calling for a more collaborative approach to the shortage problem, working towards the day when there is "a worker for every job and a job for every worker." To help, Miller told the NAS panel that it should consider identifying mechanisms to improve K-12 science and math; defining ways to improve cooperation between industry and education; and improving the federal statistics program to provide for meaningful descriptions of the IT industry.

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) provides global public policy, business networking, and national leadership to promote the continued rapid growth of the IT industry. ITAA consists of 26,000 direct and affiliate corporate members throughout the U.S., and a global network of 39 countries' IT associations. The Association plays the leading role in issues of IT industry concern including taxes and finance policy, intellectual property, telecommunications competition, workforce and education, encryption, critical infrastructure protection, online privacy and consumer protection, securities litigation reform, government IT procurement, and human resources policy. ITAA members range from the smallest IT start ups to industry leaders in the Internet, software, IT services, ASP, digital content, systems integration, telecommunications, and enterprise solution fields. For more information visit www.itaa.org.