June 2008 - Business Week Article - 'Technology: It's Where the Jobs Are'

The US are still keenly touting the benefits of studying IT and computing in their article: Technology: It's Where the Jobs Are.

The recent article (June 2008) talks of how a new survey shows growth across the country, with higher-than-average pay. And with the number of tech grads falling, demand will only rise.

It continues: "The AeA's [American Electronics Association] findings jibe with what the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says on the subject of technology jobs: More than 850,000 IT jobs will be added during the 10-year period ending in 2016, which would be a rise of 24%. Add all the jobs that will replace retiring workers, and the total increase could be a tidy 1.6 million. That means one job in every 19 created over the course of the next decade will be in technology.

And while demand for tech-savvy employees is certainly multiplying, another survey, this one from the Computing Research Assn. and released in March, found a 20% drop in the number of students completing degrees in computer-related fields, and the number of students enrolling in these programs is the lowest it's been in 10 years, as far back as the data goes.

What does all this mean? There's still a labor shortage in tech. And if you took Economics 101, you know that's good news for paychecks. Already, tech wages are 87% higher, on average, than in the rest of the private-sector job market. Tech wages are also growing faster, by an average of 4% a year double the 2% reported for private industry as a whole. And in Austin, San Diego, and Sacramento, Calif., tech salaries tend to be twice what they are for private-sector jobs generally.

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