HELP WANTED:
A CALL FOR COLLABORATIVE
ACTION FOR THE NEW
MILLENNIUM
Executive Briefing of a
Study on IT Workforce Shortages
January 12, 1998
Information Technology
Assn. of America
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
AND STATE UNIVERSITY
VIRGINIA TECH, 1998
HELP WANTED:
A CALL FOR COLLABORATIVE ACTION
FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Executive Briefing
Surviving at the “Cutting Edge of Change”
The manufacture of knowledge now has more economic value than the manufacture of
goods! The digital information technology (IT) revolution is impacting every segment of
our economy including banking, insurance, automotive, manufacturing, finance, retail,
health care, communications, education, and government to say nothing of IT companies
themselves. Nationally, the high tech industry yielded 27% of the growth in the GNP over
the past three years--that number is predicted to increase over the next three years. The IT
revolution affects our national economy, our country’s competition in a global marketplace,
trade, and our everyday lives.
A competent and skilled IT workforce is absolutely critical to a vibrant U.S. economy and to
our personal futures. This Briefing details findings of a severe shortage of skilled IT
workers in both IT and non-IT companies across the United States. Thousands of
companies are working at the cutting edge of change to maintain and expand innovation,
productivity, and cost effectiveness.
Briefing Overview
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (popularly known as Virginia Tech) and
the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) collaborated on this research
project to advance understanding on information technology industry needs. The key
findings are a call for decisive collaborative action among corporations, education,
government, and professional associations.
This Briefing contains key findings regarding the three core IT occupational clusters
(programmers, systems analysts, and computer engineers/scientists), proposed action items,
methodology, and tables. It does not present all findings from the study but instead provides
an overview of the most critical outcomes. A final report will be available for release in
mid-February, 1998.
Key Findings
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Key findings are based on responses to a telephone survey by 532 representatives from IT
and non-IT companies with more than 100 employees. The estimated numbers of
vacancies for programmers, system analysts, and computer scientists/engineers far exceeded
previous estimates. Companies are experiencing serious difficulty in hiring and retaining
employees in these three core areas. The fact that most companies require a four-year degree
in the three core areas suggests the need for creative problem solving to provide sufficient
employees. Clearly, to meet this workforce shortage, well defined career paths to the
diversity of IT positions will be critical.
Results that follow concerning IT vacancies represent estimates of the numbers of claimed
vacancies across about 104,000 U.S. companies with 100 or more employees. These
numbers may differ from the numbers of vacancies that would be filled promptly if qualified
applicants were immediately available.
1.
Responses suggest that 346,000 IT positions are currently vacant in the three
core IT occupational clusters – 129,000 in 5,874 IT companies and
217,000 in
97,733 non-IT corporations with more than 100 employees.
2.
Vacancy numbers in the three core occupational clusters represent 10% of the total
number of reported current core IT employees (3,354,000) or about 3 vacancies for
each company.
3.
The average number of IT vacancies per company did not vary significantly
across regions of the country (northeast, south, midwest, and west). This was
true even when the companies were broken down according to size and whether or
not they were IT companies. For example, the average number of reported IT
vacancies per medium-sized non-IT companies did not vary significantly across
geographic regions. This does not mean that regional differences may not exist, only
that the data from the survey do not reveal any differences.
4.
The two most challenging training issues were found to be the fast pace of
changing technology and finding qualified trainers. Over 50% of respondents
agreed “strongly” or “somewhat” that these issues caused problems.
5.
The two major sources of training for IT workers are the in-house training
department and hardware/software vendors. Over 70% of the respondents
reported using these two sources “often” or “sometimes.”
6.
Companies reported two major solutions for IT employee needs--hiring new
employees to respond to growth and retraining existing staff. Respectively, 91%
and 88% of respondents reported these as the two major solutions.
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7.
A bachelor’s degree is required for “all” or “most” of the positions in the three
core occupational clusters by a very large proportion of IT and non-IT companies,
regardless of size or geographic region.
8.
High percentages of respondents found it “very difficult” or “somewhat
difficult” to hire personnel in the three core IT occupational clusters. Smaller
proportions, but nevertheless majorities, found people in these three job categories
“very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” to retain.
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Going Forward from Here
This survey suggests a severe shortage of information technology workers in IT and non-IT
companies. Such outcomes mandate action. We believe the actions below should be
considered.
 A severe shortage of competent and skilled information technology workers exists.
Debate among many from different perspectives will not change this reality. We must
accept and take ownership of the challenges presented by these survey findings. Only
through this acceptance will meaningful planning and policy change result.
Consideration must be given as well to the implications for a nation unable to mobilize
sufficient employees in the near future to take advantage of introducing innovations from
fast-paced technological advances.
 Partnerships among corporations, education, government, and professional associations
at national and regional levels must provide an infrastructure for fostering positive
leadership and meaningful change. These partnerships must address how each segment
can support upgrading educational and skills requirements. This seems extremely
important when the results of this survey suggest that individual corporations and
hardware/software vendors are the major providers of training. Partnerships can provide
an impetus for major educational and training providers to fill specialized niches
consistent with their missions. This approach takes on added importance when over half
of the companies report finding qualified trainers a problem and only a small proportion
of companies report insufficient training budgets to be a barrier.
 A bachelor’s degree is presently required for the overwhelming majority of the positions
in the three occupational clusters. Though bachelor’s degrees are certainly warranted for
many positions, many other positions are rapidly emerging which may not require fouryear degrees. Many employees may function very productively in certain IT positions
without a bachelor’s degree. This is especially true in emerging new IT areas such as
customer service, e-commerce, and sales. Exploring alternative forms of education,
experience, and skill development to meet employment needs takes on added
importance.
Survey Methodology
A random sample of 1,500 U.S. IT and non-IT companies with 100 or more employees and
stratified according to size and IT status (IT or non-IT) was obtained from Dun &
Bradstreet. Attempts were made to contact 1,493 of these companies by telephone during
the period November 12 to December 17, 1997.
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Five hundred thirty-two interviews were successfully completed for an overall response rate
of 36%. Larger companies and those in the southern region of the country responded
relatively more often than others. Therefore, the findings may be applied more confidently
with respect to southern and larger companies.
Point estimates for population sizes were obtained by weighting cell means based on
company size and IT status. In addition, 90% confidence intervals were computed for the
IT, non-IT, and total population estimates. For the total population these ranged from +/9% to +/- 15% with the exception of the estimate of systems analysts employed which was
+/- 19%. For the IT and non-IT populations, the confidence intervals were moderately
greater, ranging from +/- 13% to +/- 21% for IT companies and from +/- 17% to +/- 33% for
non-IT companies.
Summary
The future of an information technology industry proactively engaged in new product
development and implementation is at risk. National manpower planning, creative problem
solving, and decisive action are required to respond to the severe shortage of IT workers in
both IT and non-IT companies. Only IT and non-IT companies responded for this survey.
Consider the additional IT needs of education and government. A concerted effort to
proactively respond is required from the corporate world, education, government, and
professional associations for the national impact required.
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TABLE 1: ESTIMATED NUMBERS OF IT EMPLOYEES AND VACANCIES IN
THE THREE CORE OCCUPATIONAL CLUSTERS
IT
COMPANIES
(N = 5,874)
NON-IT
COMPANIES
(N = 97,733)
TOTAL
(N = 103,607)
Total No. of Core IT
Employees
Total of Core IT
Vacancies & % of Total
Core IT Employees
1,019,000
2,335,000
3,354,000
129,000
13%
217,000
9%
346,000
10%
Programmers Employed
& % of Total Core IT
Employees
Programmer Vacancies
& % of Programmers
520,000
51%
1,357,000
58%
1,877,000
56%
60,000
12%
128,000
9%
188,000
10%
Systems Analysts
Employed & % of Total
Core IT Employees
Systems Analyst
Vacancies & % of
Systems Analysts
197,000
19%
721,000
31%
918,000
27%
36,000
18%
57,000
8%
92,000
10%
Computer
Engineers/Scientists
Employed & % of Total
Core IT Employees
Computer
Engineer/Scientist
Vacancies & % of CE/S
302,000
30%
257,000
11%
559,000
17%
34,000
11%
32,000
12%
66,000
12%
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TABLE 2
METHODS FOR MEETING IT PERSONNEL NEEDS*
Company Strategy
% often or sometimes
Hire new employees
91%
Retrain existing staff
88%
Utilize consultants/
74%
temporary workers
Hire new immigrants
40%
Outsource to non-US
16%
contractors
* N = 484-506; some respondents did not answer all questions.
TABLE 3
SOURCES OF TRAINING*
Training Source
Company training dept.
Hardware/software
training vendors
Private IT training
companies
Four year colleges &
universities
Two year colleges &
technical schools
* N = 483-490
% often or sometimes
76%
74%
62%
53%
47%
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TABLE 4
TRAINING CHALLENGES*
Training Challenge
% strongly or
somewhat
agree
64%
54%
46%
36%
Fast changing technology
Finding qualified training providers
Employees leave after training
Training budget insufficient
 N = 472-504
TABLE 5
RESPONSES CONCERNING SPECIFIC IT POSITIONS
1
Require a bachelor’s
degree for “all” or
“most”
Require no more than a
2-year program for “all”
or “most”
“Very difficult” or
“somewhat difficult” to
hire
“Very difficult” or
“somewhat” difficult” to
retain
1
2
3
Programmer
83%
Systems
Analyst2
82%
Computer Scientist/
Engineer3
90%
12%
14%
6%
85%
78%
84%
58%
59%
65%
N = 444-453
N = 438-441
N = 264-266
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