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CIO begin to think about growing the their IT organizations

Webmaster — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:05:32 -0700

According the Hackett Group's, company leaders have identified the need to grow their emerging market presence as one of the most important priorities for 2012, compared to 2011. They now want their current level of globalization to triple within two to three years, and among their top goals is expanding the reach of their IT service delivery models.

But simply growing and tapping new markets isn't enough. Companies want to remain agile so they can adapt quickly and intelligently to volatile changes in customer demands and costs, according to the firm. "Getting the right information to permit quick action can only be accomplished when mechanisms are in place to gather high-quality data, conduct rigorous analysis, and make decisions with confidence. IT and other support functions overwhelmingly recognize this fact and are focusing their technology priorities for 2012 around the themes of improving the foundation of unified data (to create 'one source of truth') and being able to provide analysis and access to those findings."

H-1B Visa program continues to grow

Webmaster — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:42:12 -0700

The data comes from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. One list shows new applications for H-1B visas; the second list shows the combined totals for new visas and renewals. A H-1B visa must be renewed every three years.

The U.S. issues 85,000 H-1B visas annually. Of that number, 20,000 are reserved for advanced degree graduates of U.S. universities.

In total, the new visa applications from the top 10 users account for 22% of all the visas allowed by the U.S. each year. But offshore providers probably have a much larger percentage of the visas issued under the 65,000 cap, which includes graduates for foreign universities. An exact breakdown isn't available.

H-1B Visa Renewals and Approvals

Cognizant - 5715
Infosys- 4042
Wipro - 2817
Tata - 1758
Larsen & Toubro - 1608
Microsoft - 1586
Accenture - 1370
HCL America - 1128
IBM - 1063
Google - 615

H-1B New Visa Applications

Cognizant - 4222
Infosys - 3962
Wipro - 2736
Tata - 1740
Accenture - 1347
Larsen & Toubro - 1204
HCL America - 1033
Microsoft - 947
IBM - 853
Google - 383
TOTAL - 18427

Recruiting using social media

Webmaster — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:43:49 -0700

Social media sites provide distinct clues that help identify top talent. Look at the candidate's presence on Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, or blogs, and look at:

Writing style: Many top-tier recruits have blogs with at least a small readership. Take the time to read his or her blog posts - and not just the most recent ones, but the early ones as well. It will give you an idea about his or her professionalism, communication skills, and ability to evolve and progress.
Followings: A good way to differentiate between two seemingly equal candidates may be to see how many people are commenting on their blog and, more significantly, how many followers they have on Twitter. Followers are a rough vote of interest and confidence in an individual.
Word of mouth - online: Wall posts, Twitter @replies, blog comments, and LinkedIn recommendations provide insight into what people think of an individual.

Social media has proven to be a valuable resource in bad times, and it may also be a compelling resource for businesses in times-a-plenty. Tracking potential talent across social media venues is smart business because the top players in any industry or profession are likely to be actively engaged in online communities.

Talent in high demand at large firms

Webmaster — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:56:12 -0700

CIOs and other top organizational executives foresee a global talent shortage looming for the next several years, according to recent research from Deloitte. The consulting firm released the results of its survey in a new report, "Talent Edge 2020: Redrafting Talent Strategies for the Uneven Recovery." When it comes to adequately appointing leaders and staffing key operations, the report says fallout from the talent shortage could be significant. In addition, retaining younger workers has emerged as a key issue for many organizations.

Ultimately, companies that invest aggressively in talent management and development programs will reap rewards, the report concludes. "Today's top talent organizations are not sitting back and waiting for a slow recovery to solve their talent challenges," says the talent services leader for Deloitte Consulting. "These executives are more likely to invest ‑ by a two to one margin ‑ across the board on talent priorities." More than 375 senior executives and talent managers at large companies worldwide took part in the research.

Hiring is on the uptick

Webmaster — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:44:08 -0700

Janco Associates and eJobDescription.com have found that hiring seems to be on the move up. In the last few months they have found that companies are beginning to look into the future.

Mobile workers to drive IT

Webmaster — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:35:45 -0700

By 2015, the world's mobile worker population will reach 1.3 billion, representing 37.2 percent of the total workforce, according to an updated forecast from an IT analytics firm. The report projects the most significant gains will again be in the emerging economies of Asia/Pacific thanks to continued, strong economic growth. The Americas will experience a slower growth rate due to a protracted economic recovery and high rates of unemployment, the analysts concluded.

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http://www.e-janco.com/Salary.htm

Webmaster — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:53:10 -0700

The 2012 Salary Survey, just released by Janco Associates, is mixed news for IT Professionals. The survey shows that hiring and salaries are up in some sectors of the IT job market, salaries have stopped falling and for selected positions there has been an increase in compensation.

The CEO of Janco stated, "Our main conclusion from analysis of the data and interviews of CIOs is that for Information Technology the recession has bottomed out for and that hiring of IT professionals will increase in 2012." He also said, "However there still are a number of companies who are continue to be cautious and are concerned that the recovery will not be strong enough to support increased IT spending." He added, "Cost control is still the rule of the day; however we have seen an increase in the number of part-timers and contractors who are focused on particular critical projects. This is strong indicator that IT hiring and salaries will go up in 2012."

42% CIO report to the CFO

Webmaster — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:51:50 -0700

The Financial Executives Research Foundation found that 42% of IT organizations report directly to the CFO. The percentage soars to 60% at smaller businesses with revenues between $50 million and $250 million.

The same survey pointed out that finance chiefs alone authorize 26% of all IT investments, while chief information officers approve only 5%. This makes sense: in tough economic times finance inevitably asserts itself and casts a gimlet eye on spending. In fact, an October 2011 report by CDW, one of the worlds largest technology resellers, said that only 40% of IT decision-makers expect their budgets to rise this winter, down 8% from last year and the lowest level of IT investment increase since October 2009.

Overtime may be thing of the past for ALL IT workers

Webmaster — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:27:17 -0700

The Computer Professionals Update Act (CPU Act) was proposed by a Democrat, Sen. Kay Hagan, whose state is home to a heavy concentration of technology-related companies, as well as financial services outfits, including Bank of America, that are huge employers of IT workers.

The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA), which mandates that workers be paid time-and-half for work beyond 40 hours in a week -- in some cases, beyond 8 hours in a day. There are already numerous exemptions to that requirement, including salaried executives, professionals, and any IT worker "who is a computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, or other similarly skilled worker." The current version of the FSLA goes on to specify that exempt-from-overtime jobs include "systems analysis techniques and procedures design, documentation, testing, creation, or modification of computer programs."

The CPU Act would broaden that exemption so much it appears that any IT worker who is paid more than $27.63 an hour would lose the right to overtime. Here's what it says:

Any employee working in a computer or information technology occupation (including, but not limited to, work related to computers, information systems, components, networks, software, hardware, databases, security, Internet, intranet, or websites) as an analyst, programmer, engineer, designer, developer, administrator, or other similarly skilled worker, whose primary duty is

the application of systems, network, or database analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine or modify hardware, software, network, database, or system functional specifications; or
the design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing, securing, configuration, integration, debugging, modification of computer or information technology, or enabling continuity of systems and applications.

Security jobs may be in high demand

Webmaster — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:51:33 -0700

IT security professionals are projected to see higher salary increases, compared with the overall IT market in 2012, according to one national recruiting firm.

Salaries for IT security professionals are projected to increase by 4.5 percent in 2012, according to this firm. The increasingly hostile threat landscape and growing demand for cloud computing has made security the hottest IT career in terms of salary growth.

The guide listed projected percentage increases over 2011 salaries as well as estimated base salaries. The IT salaries in general are expected to see a 3 percent increase in 2012; security jobs are expected to outpace the projected average.

Dumb move by creater of CityVille and FarmVille soical network games

Webmaster — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:42:24 -0700

Attracting top employees is difficult for cash-strapped startups. To address this many of these companies give out company stock to supplement salaries that employees might feel is below-market.

Zynga followed that strategy. The creator of CityVille and FarmVille, Zynga apparently wishes it hadn't, according to a the Wall Street Journal.

The Zynga CEO, along with his top executives, decided last year as they were preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) that they had given out too much stock to employees. But rather than accept that reality, the executives reportedly tried a different tactic: demand employees give back not-yet-vested stock or face termination.

In order to determine which employees would be asked to give stock back, Pincus and his executives tried to pinpoint workers whose contributions to Zynga--in the execs' eyes--didn't necessarily justify the potential cash windfall they could receive when the company went public, the Journal claims. One Journal source said that Zynga executives were especially concerned with not creating a "Google chef" scenario.

That reference relates to Google's 2004 IPO when one of the company's chefs, who was hired in the firm's early days, walked away with $20 million worth of stock after the shares went public.

After finding people to target, the Journal's sources say, the CEO offered his ultimatum. However, as one might expect, he faced some anger from employees who didn't believe they should be required to give back the stock. The Journal cited two employees--one who has left Zynga and another that still works with the company--who hired attorneys to reach a settlement that saw them give up some, but not all, of the unvested shares.

Apple reacts to Job's passing

Webmaster — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 06:00:55 -0700

Apple last week awarded six senior executives $60 million each in stock contingent on them staying with the company through mid-March 2016.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last Friday, Apple said it had granted 150,000 restricted stock units to each executive. At the close of trading Friday, the options were worth just over $60 million.

Those awarded the grants included chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer, general counsel Bruce Sewell and senior vice presidents Scott Forstall, Philip Schiller, Bob Mansfield and Jeffrey Williams.

Forstall heads Apple's iPhone software group, Schiller is Apple's chief marketing officer, Mansfield leads the company's hardware engineering efforts, and Williams is the head of operations, responsible for the work once done by now-CEO Tim Cook.

Eddie Cue, another senior vice president who oversees all online work at Apple -- including the App Store and iCloud -- was awarded 100,000 restricted stock units that vest in September 2014 and September 2016.

In September 2011, Cue was given a grant of 100,000 shares when he was promoted to senior vice president.

Steps to take before starting the termination process

Webmaster — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:52:54 -0700

When stating the process of terminating an employee it is important to have a process in place to justify the termination and will help to minimize the exposure to wrongful termination lawsuits.

Hire the right person for the job Sometimes managers are so desperate to fill positions that they bring candidates on board who aren't the best fit for the jobs. That often sets up the individual for failure and leads to termination.
Manage all employees' performance Many managers think it's too hard to coach people or to have those difficult, direct conversations with employees about the behavior that needs to change. But failing to train an employee or set clear expectations with the employee about his or her performance can lead the employee to allege wrongful termination. Most people want to know if they're doing something wrong that could possibly get them fired. They need an opportunity to correct it before the employer terminates them
Make jokes or disparaging comments about the employee and or their performance Comments about employees should not "cross the line". Not only can they hurt the employee but they could be used to define a hostile work environment which in turn can put your company at risk. The same is true for nicknames.
Inform employees of the consequences (they could be terminated) for not improving their performance Managers need to not beat around the bush with employees during conversations about their performance. Managers need to be clear that whatever the employee is doing or not doing could result in termination.

Employers should not leave employees guessing that they're at risk for termination. A termination for a performance or behavioral issue should never be a surprise. Managers have a hard time saying these words, but they need to be clear about the severity of the situation because most employees operate under the assumption that everything is fine even though they know their boss would like them to work a little bit better or faster.
Document performance - both good and bad If there have been problems with an employee, it must be reflected in performance reviews and if not, you must be write up employees' performance deficiencies. Many managers terminate employees for cause after having multiple conversations with employees about their performance, but they never document any of these conversations in employees' personnel files. Without documentation an employee has a stronger case for wrongful termination.
Make inappropriate comments about the employee via email or social networks Managers need to be careful about the things they write in emails regarding employees whose performance may warrant termination. Emails are all discoverable in a case. Those are documents that could become public.
Give employees appropriate notice Under the WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act, employers with 100 or more full-time employees that are closing a facility and laying off at least one-third of their workforce are required to give those employees 60 days' notice of the layoff.

Criteria for hiring direct reports to the CIO

Webmaster — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:17:46 -0700

Among the multiple hats CIOs wear, "hiring manager" doesn't always lie at the top of the priority list, transcending fundamental concerns like implementing new technology and meeting compliance requirements. But since IT chiefs will surely interview candidates for key positions on their staffs, and a poor choice could be quite damaging, it could be invaluable to know about the psychological aspects of interviews and how to tell high performers from poor ones.

First, even for IT roles, technical skills may be an overblown component of selection criteria. A consulting firm monitored hiring effectiveness and employee engagement at 1,500 companies across many industries and tracked 20,000 new hires over a three-year period. Among the 46% of hirees who failed within their first 18 months, only 11% failed because of technical incompetence. The other 89% failed in attitudinal areas: coachability, emotional intelligence, motivation, and temperament.

Retirement is now a far away dream for many IT Pros

Webmaster — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:23:45 -0700

Americans have emerged from the economic recession with a new set of expectations around the purpose, timing and funding of their retirement. Not only is retirement being postponed, but it no longer means an end to workingretirement is now a new chapter in life.

Expectations for retirement have changed in the wake of the Great Recession. Forget moving someplace warm and sipping margaritas between golf and shuffleboard games; the "New Normal" for Americans involves less wealth and more work, says a survey from SunAmerica Financial Group, which focused on people aged 55 and older.

Still, the research shows people as more upbeat and philosophical than pessimistic, with a sense that the new experience of retirement can be fulfilling. "Americans are emerging from the experience with new knowledge, new discipline and have re-set their vision of an ideal retirement," says the president/CEO of SunAmerica Financial Group. "Americans have also proven themselves to be both resilient and resourceful. They are course-correcting: intending to work longer, save more, spend less, be more disciplined and adjust their lifestyle expectations."

Over 60% of dot.com bubble jobs exist today

Webmaster — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:40:54 -0700

Ten years after the peak of the bubble, only one in six of the high-tech companies founded in 2000 still survive, and only one in three of the jobs created then still exist, according to a new study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Internet-related startups, the darlings of Wall Street, fared even worse: Only 8 percent, or about one in twelve, survived.

In the six-county San Francisco Bay Area, it turns out that about 30 percent of businesses started 10 years ago are still around, a survival rate that's nearly double that of high tech, says Amar Mann, chief regional economist in the bureau's San Francisco office. "You would have done better to open a restaurant," he says.

As interesting as the study is from a historical point of view, its real value may be more in the nature of a warning: Technology appears to have its own business cycle, and like all cycles it reaches a peak and then descends, sometimes very rapidly, to the bottom of the curve. Too much money poured into companies that hire too many people without a clear idea of how to make money is what creates a bubble.

Definition of career success

Webmaster — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:34:31 -0700

The survey of young professionals, ages 21 to 31, and hiring managers, indicates Millennials believe doing work that is personally meaningful to them and achieving a sense of accomplishment are just as important as earning a high salary for a successful career. In fact, 30 percent of Millennials identify meaningful work as the single most important measure of a successful career.

Conversely, hiring managers believe high pay plays a greater role in Millennials perception of career success. Forty-eight percent of hiring managers rank high pay as the number one way Millennials measure their career success. Only 11 percent of hiring managers say Millennials consider meaningful work as the number one measure of success.

IT hiring decline adds to continuing poor economic conditions

Webmaster — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:53:09 -0700

Employment issues are adding to business concerns about the state of the U.S. economic recovery

The continuing uncertainty about the U.S. economy is impacting staffing levels at IT companies. In the quarterly survey, 54 percent of IT firms say they are understaffed by five percent or more. Another 22 percent of firms are fully staffed, but would like to hire more workers to expand their business.

The overall Business Confidence Index for the fourth quarter fell by 1.0 point to 51.9 on a 100-point scale. Although still in net positive territory (greater than 50), the report concluded that economic malaise has clearly set in. This marks the third consecutive quarterly decline in the confidence index this year. The survey found that looking ahead, the IT industry executives predict a 1.9 gain in the Index in the first quarter of 2012.

This modest gain is lower than previous outlooks, which typically exceeded five points. It s yet another sign of dimming confidence in a short-term fix to a shaky world economy. The survey found relative to the rating for the overall economy, executives are more confident in the IT industry and their own firms, but that sentiment provides little solace, given the widening gap of opinions regarding the economy. No industry operates in a vacuum, so even the relatively strong IT industry has felt the pain of global economic weakness, he said.

Data from the survey suggest that staffing shortfalls are most prevalent among larger companies ($100 million or more in annual revenue). Micro firms those with less than $1 million in annual revenue are most likely to report being fully staffed at their desired levels. The report noted, however, that micro firms tend to operate with lean staffs, compared to larger firms that have more organizational layers and therefore may experience more frequent changes in headcount.

The impact of the staffing crunch is felt most directly by workers now on the job, with 55 percent of IT firms are requiring workers to multi-task more and 45 percent are requiring salaried workers to put in more hours, according to the survey. Nearly a third of companies (32 percent) say they ve postponed or canceled projects due to staffing shortages.

Among the types of staff IT firms plan to hire or would like to hire, 56 percent of surveyed firms said programmers and application developers; 43 percent, help desk and support personnel; 41 percent, project managers; and 40 percent, sales staff. "Multiply this behavior across every industry sector and economic pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Firms refrain from spending, which signals to vendors a slowdown, which causes spending restraint in other areas. No one wants to move first. This vicious cycle ripples throughout the economy.

Even when companies decide to act on filling their staffing needs, they struggle to find qualified candidates despite the large pool of unemployed workers. In the survey, 74 percent of IT firms said it s somewhat or very challenging finding quality candidates with the right skills and experience when openings must be filled. According to the report, stalled economic recovery is the biggest threat, identified by 54 percent of surveyed IT firms. Ranking second on the list of business threats is a general lack of confidence, cited by 45 percent of respondents.

Immigration impacts job market

Webmaster — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:00:33 -0700

With the national unemployment rate hovering around 9%, the immigration policies established by Congress bring in 125,000 new foreign workers to the U.S. each month. This amounts to 1,500,000 foreign workers each year, who compete directly with Americans for U.S. job opportunities.

The current rate of immigration far surpasses our national traditional average of 250,000 new immigrants a year.

Some outsourced IT jobs are coming back

Webmaster — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:48:45 -0700

Best Buy is hiring some 200 IT professionals and expects its IT department to increase to as many as 350 employees once this round of hiring is completed. Best Buy, which saw its online revenues grow 13% in the last quarter, is putting IT at the heart of a strategy to respond to the expanding e-commerce market.

The IT skills Best Buy wants internally are what it calls "top of pyramid," or people with leadership qualities who can translate business strategies to IT needs, have strong technical expertise, take ownership of the technology and interact with business leaders strategically. The company will still use outsourcers to provide more direct technical needs, such as coding.

Best Buy's decision to expand its IT department may be part of a broader trend among retailers, others of which are also hiring. In May, Lowe's Companies Inc. said it planned to create 150 new IT positions to prepare for future platforms. Macy's is expanding its e-commerce technology staff Home Depot hasn't announced any specific IT hiring plans, but the company has more than 100 IT jobs listed on its careers page. The company is working on both internal and external IT capabilities. It recently rolled out, for instance, new handheld devices across its stores that can provide everything from business intelligence capabilities to customer receipts.

At a quarterly meeting with financial analysts this month, Home Depot's Chairman said the company has an "entire focus" around what it calls "interconnected retail" that involves more than selling online and providing research help. "They get project knowledge online, so there's a lot of ways in which our bricks connect with our online presence and we want to make sure we have the best experience in all of retail for that," he said.

Economy slows pay increases for contractors

Webmaster — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:34:27 -0700

Pay for federal contractors increased by only 2.1 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, according to an analysis of 448 jobs reported by more than 100 government contractor companies. The salaries of 105 jobs declined, while 137 jobs increased in pay, said the executive vice president and counsel of the Professional Services Council, discussing the annual survey of contractor pay released in September.

Chvotkin presented a few of the results from the compensation survey of Washington-area businesses. PSC cosponsors the survey on government contractors with the Human Resources Association.

"We see the effect that the economy is having on the pay for the federal contracting workforce," the executive director said.

IT job market shrinks

Webmaster — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:02:51 -0700

According to one analysis of BLS data, the IT industry employed 6.5 million people in 2001. That number had slipped to 5.9 million by mid-year. The U.S. tech industry as an employer is shrinking, even as it continues to regain jobs lost during the recession.

Although the U.S. continues to lead the world in everything from microprocessors to tablets to supercomputers, overall tech employment is being hurt by an erosion of manufacturing and telecommunications jobs. Some of that loss is being offset by growth in software services, according to the annual report by the TechAmerica Foundation, an industry group that tracks employment and other trends in the tech sector.

Tech firms have been, overall, one of the few bright spots in this economy. The industry added 115,000 jobs so far this year after losing that exact amount last year, according to TechAmerica.

Nokia cuts 3,500 jobs

Webmaster — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:28:51 -0700

Nokia will cut another 3,500 jobs as the handset giant continues to seek ways to lower its operating costs to run more efficiently.

The Finnish company will close a manufacturing facility in Cluj, Romania, and reduce workers in its supply chain operations, accounting for a loss of 2,200 employees. It will also cut 1,300 workers in its commerce and location business, which was made up of its Navteq operations and Nokia's social location services.

The cuts come on top of its initial wave of layoffs announced in April, slashing 4,000 jobs and transferring another 3,000 to consulting firm Accenture. As with the previous layoffs, the job cuts will take effect by the end of next year.

Getting a new job

Webmaster — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:34:37 -0700

Having the right skills gives you a chance to make more money than ever these days. You may even crack the six-figure club, according to research from Dice.com, which addresses what the online tech-jobs hub describes as an emerging tech-talent crunch. A lack of valuable experience in key areas - especially rapid-growth niches such as mobile tech and cloud computing - is boosting salaries even as prospects of a sustained, overall economic recovery appear shaky.

IT Job Descriptions
Salary Data

The upshot: If you've got the IT chops, don't undersell yourself on salary. Technology professionals are the basis for innovation, efficiency and creating an agile workplace. Now is the time to ask for more money. Negotiate hard at the outset of a new job because that initial salary may set the base for the next three years.

NY Mayor's H-1B statement out of step with reality

Webmaster — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:40:57 -0700

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is out of step with the reality of the IT job market wtih his call for "eliminating the cap on H-1B visas" and believes restrictive U.S. visa policies -- particularly the limiting of employment-based green cards -- are a form of "national suicide."

Bloomberg, who spoke Thursday at the U.S Chamber of Commerce about national competitiveness, has been an advocate for eliminating the visa cap, easing access to employment-based green cards, and doing more through visa policies to attract foreign entrepreneurs and encourage foreign students to remain in the U.S.

But Bloomberg's call for more H-1B visas comes at the same time the pace of visa demand is relatively low, as is IT hiring overall. In the immediate pre-recession years, available visas disappeared in a week.