EJobdescription.com - One Stop HR Department

Most firms have not defined mobability policies

Webmaster — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:48:32 -0600

Policies defined the rules of the road for mobile computing yet only one in five organizations have them defined and implemented according to Janco Associates. This lows rate of definition is driven by smaller to mid-sized firms as almost half of all large firms have mobility policies defined.

When a CIO or an IT Executive takes over a new job one of the greatest challenges is to quickly validate that the infrastructure that is in place. Would it not be nice to have some tools that could be use to quickly put proven world class policies in place with minimal effort. That is what the CIO IT Infrastructure Policy Bundle does.

The mobility policy template address all areas related to mobility: mobile devices (including procedures for lost devices), mobile applications including consideration for approved applications for business use), and data in mobile environments (including policy for using public Wi-Fi networks).

Mobile workers to drive IT

Webmaster — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:43:59 -0600

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.

This bundle contains the following policies:

CIO IT Infrastructure Policy Bundle
Backup and Backup Retention Policy
Blog and Personal Web Site Policy
BYOD Policy
Incident Communication Policy
Internet, e-Mail, Social Networking, Mobile Device, Electronic Communications, and Record Retention Policy
Mobile Device Access and Use Policy
Outsourcing Policy
Record Management, Retention, and Destruction Policy
Sensitive Information Policy (HIPAA Compliant)
Service Level Agreement (SLA) Policy Template with Metrics
Social Networking Policy
Telecommuting Policy
Travel and Off-Site Meeting Policy
Electronic Forms

More workers stop looking for work

Webmaster — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:10:24 -0600

Industries and occupations related to health care, personal care and social assistance, and construction are projected to have the fastest job growth from now until 2020. Total employment is projected to grow by 14.3 percent over the decade, resulting in 20.5 million new jobs. Despite rapid projected growth, construction is not expected to regain all of the jobs lost during the 2007-12 recession. The bad news is that the number of individuals dropping out of the job market continues to increase and the Labor Participation Percentage continues to fall.

http://www.ejobdescription.com/IT_Salary_Survey.html

Webmaster — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 09:47:39 -0600

IT pros are reeling from a one-two punch brought on by the sustained economic crisis: Organizations of all stripes have reported deep cuts to their training budgets in recent years, and they have held off on initiatives that would have given workers a way to learn new technologies.

At the same time, technological evolution continued at its breakneck pace. Janco and eJobDescription 2012 Salary Survey found that the skills related to emerging technologies, such as mobile, wireless and communications systems, cloud computing and Web security, enjoyed the biggest year-over-year increases in demand among IT managers who plan to hire in the next 12 months.

On top of that, hiring managers say they want people with the basic tech skills that have always been required, as well as business acumen, communication skills and customer service abilities.

Finding a job - social media implications

Webmaster — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:08:16 -0600

The process of finding a job has changed in the digital age, and human resources managers and other hirers are using new tools to screen potential job candidates, according to recent research. While resumes and other traditional means of candidate-employer interaction remain standard, many hiring managers want a more complete picture of their applicants. That could include job-fitness assessments to determine whether you fit in with the company culture - and maybe even probing your world view.

So it is wise to make sure you've got your social media ducks in a row before you begin a job search. What you say on Twitter could haunt you. Organizations are recognizing that their attraction and retention of top talent is what will propel them to the top. There is a tremendous opportunity for companies worldwide to put their people intelligence to work to create positive, profitable business outcomes.

What is the jobs picture?

Webmaster — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:06:52 -0600

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released its biennial employment forecasts, and this year's report has some good news for IT workers. The agency predicts that employment in all computer-related fields will grow 22 percent through 2020. Some job titles will do even better, for example software developers (28-32 percent growth), database administrators (31 percent growth), and network and systems administrators (28 percent growth).

While the forecast looks good, some experts say the U.S. IT job growth isn't as high as it needs to be. Victor Janulaitis, CEO of research firm Janco Associates, characterized the IT job growth as "anemic," saying, "When you consider the overall demand for systems and applications in high-growth markets like China and India, [the BLS projections] mean the U.S. will be doing a diminishing portion of the development and implementation work. If that's the case, the U.S. will no longer be the leader in IT."

He added, "The BLS projections are a bad sign for the U.S. IT graduates from universities. Those numbers do not cover the net growth necessary to give all of the graduates jobs."

BLS forecast is for anemic IT job growth

Webmaster — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:15:21 -0600

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts that offshoring will hurt the growth of U.S. programming jobs in over the rest of this decade, though expansion of healthcare IT and mobile networks will in turn increase demand for software developers, support technicians and systems analysts.

By 2020, employment in all computer occupations is expected to increase by 22%, but some IT fields will fare better than others, according to the BLS biennial update of employment projections.

Demand for software developers will be the strongest in this period, with increases ranging from 28% to 32%, depending on the type of software development.

The agency's forecasts, particularly for technology-related jobs, are often controversial because they can't account for rapid market changes and tech disruptions. But its estimates are often cited in various policy debates on issues ranging from education to immigration.

The IT employment growth rate projected by the BLS was characterized as "anemic" by Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco Associates, a research firm that analyzes IT wage and employment trends.

"When you consider the overall demand for systems and applications in high-growth markets like China and India, [the BLS projections] mean the U.S. will be doing a diminishing portion of the development and implementation work," said Janulaitis. "If that's the case, the U.S. will no longer be the leader in IT.

"The BLS projections are a bad sign for the U.S. IT graduates from universities. Those numbers do not cover the net growth necessary to give all of the graduates jobs," Janulaitis added.

Outsourcing via offshoring is costing jobs in the US and Europe

Webmaster — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:45:27 -0600

Offshoring continues to shrink the number of IT jobs, but in 10 years companies will run out of jobs to offshore, study says
Offshoring is negatively impacting the number of IT jobs in large corporations. A management consulting firm examined services occupations in finance, human resources, procurement, and IT. They found that only 4.5 million of the 8.2 million jobs in these fields that existed in the U.S. and Europe at the start of 2002 will still exist in 2016.

Of the 1.8 million IT jobs at the companies represented in survey about 270,000 jobs in the U.S. and Europe will be moved offshore between now and 2016. The U.S. share accounts for about half of the total jobs lost, or 135,000. By 2016 the firm estimates that 1.8 million IT jobs in North America and Europe at large companies today will have declined to about 1.5 million, despite the growth of many of these companies.

This decline in IT jobs reflects decisions to buy IT services, in the form of cloud-based services. But the IT industry, which has been seeing employment growth, will still move some of those jobs moved offshore.

Microsoft say cloud will generate 14 million job internationally

Webmaster — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:44:36 -0600

Implementation of cloud services will create 14 million jobs internationally by 2014, with the greatest increases occurring in emerging markets, which are not constrained in deploying cloud systems by legacy infrastructure, according to a new study from Microsoft.

China and India alone could create up to 6.8 million new jobs related to the cloud, the study found. Because many of the businesses in these emerging markets are young, they aren't bound by the "Legacy lag" -- as the study calls it -- that could be holding back cloud adoption at larger enterprises around the world.

IBM lays off over 1,200 employees in US and Canada

Webmaster — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:52:26 -0600

According to an IBM employee organization, reports and independent sources, IBM has laid off more than 1,000 employees with some estimates going as high as 1.200 or more in the U.S. and Canada

According to an IBM employee organization, reports and independent sources, IBM has laid off more than 1,000 employees with some estimates going as high as 1.200 or more in the U.S. and Canada.

Some industry experts say that the layoffs in the U.S. are part of an IBM strategy to limit the number of Big Blue employees in the U.S. in favor of lower-cost workers in emerging countries.

IBM, which employs more than 425,000 people around the world, in 2009, stopped releasing figures on the number of employees it has in each country. In 2009, IBM listed 105,000 employees in the U.S., down from nearly 134,000 in 2005. Now, Alliance@IBM estimates that in 2011 IBM employed 98,000 workers in the U.S.

Younger workers are different

Webmaster — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:31:24 -0600

A recent study discovered some key trends about millennials and how they view technology and workplace IT departments. The study found that younger workers:

Have very high expectations when it comes to getting a response regarding support calls
Prefer interactions with IT beyond just calling the helpdesk, including email, chat, and texts
Will typically research problems on their own (either before calling IT or while waiting for a response)
Tend to work outside of typical business hours and off premises
Will develop their own solutions and processes with the tools at their disposal, including consumer-oriented cloud services and personal devices
Value working collaboratively with colleagues within their organization and beyond it
Are often willing to share knowledge about solutions provided to them by IT and solutions and processes they develop on their own

Certifications are not highly valued by CIOs

Webmaster — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:09:55 -0600

While some staffing firms report that IT salaries are growing according to Foote Partners, has been observing a different trend. They are in agreement with data that has been publsihed by of Park City, UT and eJobDescription.com.

Foote says pay premiums for 82 specific technical skills and 88 different technical certifications have been dropping for a year. Premiums are the extra cash companies sometimes pay to full-time employees or contractors on top of their annual salaries or hourly rates in order to acquire a specific, desired skill or certification.

The value of IT certifications has been sliding for five years. Meanwhile, pay premiums for technical skills began falling at the end of 2010, after 20 consecutive months of increases. The dip in demand for technical skills and the corresponding drop in pay premiums for them represents a "correction" in the way IT leaders are structuring their IT organizations, and consequently, in the way they value various skills.

In short, according to Foote's assessment of the market, IT leaders see technical skills and certifications as a dime a dozen, and thus, not worth paying premiums to acquire. Moreover, IT leaders are not necessarily looking for pure technical skills as they re-staff their IT departments, undertake new projects and focus on innovation. Tech skills are third, fourth, and fifth on their lists of desired skills according to Foote.

IT hiring trends

Webmaster — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:32:35 -0600

As the economy's recovery and corporate earnings improve, business across North America are reinvesting in IT projects that were put on hold through the recession. The industries with the strongest growth, including technology and health care, are adding the most IT jobs today, and the IT positions in demand today are a combination of those directly related to profit drivers (product and service development) and back-office operations (such as networking and database administration), a positive indicator for the economy overall.

The distribution of the employment opportunities metro areas across the country confirms that IT job growth is not confined to those areas traditionally considered IT job markets such as Silicon Valley. The Metro areas with the greatest opportunities for IT professional are:

Minneapolis (Overall Unemployment: 5.1%)
Salt Lake City (Overall Unemployment 5.4%)
McLean, Va. (Overall Unemployment: 5.5%)
Boston (Overall Unemployment: 5.7%)
Houston (Overall Unemployment: 7.6%)
San Francisco (Overall Unemployment: 7.6%)
Walnut Creek, Calif. (Overall Unemployment: 7.6%)
Denver (Overall Unemployment: 7.9%)
Toronto (Overall Unemployment: 8.5%)
New York City (Overall Unemployment: 9.0%)
Jacksonville, Fla. (Overall Unemployment: 9.5%)
Orlando (Overall Unemployment: 9.7%)
Detroit (Overall Unemployment: 10.7%)

IT drives company success

Webmaster — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:33:21 -0600

Top-performing companies are top performers in IT, too. Enterprises ranking in the highest quartile for annual revenue, growth, profitability and innovation, and with revenue growth of more than 5% in the past year are better at measuring data, interacting with customers via mobile tools, and mobilizing applications to the cloud, among other things.

"Raising a firm's digital IQ means improving the way it leverages technologies and channels to meet customer needs," says a principal at PwC. "The core of the ecosystem for innovation has moved from inside the firm to out in the marketplace. Customer and employee expectations are being shaped by this environment -- if you miss this trend you will be increasingly irrelevant to the market."

Participate in IT Salary Survey

Webmaster — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:22:27 -0600

Janco is just starting it data gathering for the 2012 Mid-Year IT Salary Survey. Everyone who participates will get a copy of the summary data and those who provide at least ten (10) data points will get a copy of the full study. In addition anyone who provides data within the next 30 days will be entered in a drawing for a fifty percent (50%) discount on any product in the eJobDescription.com catalog. Just click here and follow the link to participate or cut and paste the link below into your browser.

CIO begin to think about growing the their IT organizations

Webmaster — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:05:32 -0600

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 10:42:12 -0600

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 07:43:49 -0600

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 11:56:12 -0600

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 11:44:08 -0600

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.

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

Webmaster — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:53:10 -0600

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 08:51:50 -0600

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 14:27:17 -0600

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 15:51:33 -0600

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 18:42:24 -0600

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 07:00:55 -0600

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 16:52:54 -0600

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 16:17:46 -0600

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 09:23:45 -0600

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 22:40:54 -0600

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 15:34:31 -0600

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 05:53:09 -0600

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 11:00:33 -0600

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 06:48:45 -0600

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 16:34:27 -0600

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 13:02:51 -0600

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 06:28:51 -0600

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 14:34:37 -0600

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 23:40:57 -0600

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.

Government to control IT salaries?

Webmaster — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:36:35 -0600

The Obama administration has proposed changing how the government sets limits on the reimbursement of salaries of contractor companies' senior executives.

The current formula for reimbursement sets the cap using a survey of commercial compensation but the administration wants to tie the cap to the salaries of senior-most federal officials - specifically, Executive Schedule Level I, which currently pays $200,000 a year, according to the White House's economic proposal released Sept. 19, "Living Within Our Means and Investing In The Future."

Congress will have to pass new legislation to make the change.

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy is legally required to determine the amount of compensation, such as salaries and bonuses, that the government will reimburse for, based on available surveys on executive pay at publicly traded U.S. companies with more than $50 million in annual sales. It's called the Executive Compensation Benchmark.