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Essay on Information Technology - Should Existing Workers be Retrained, or New Ones Hired?
Concerns have surfaced about whether the workforce for high-technology industries will be able to keep up with this growing industry’s needs. To understand the state of the high-tech industry, it is important to note that most of the existing data pertains to information technology industries and that there is much less evidence about other areas of high technology, such as biotechnology. However, since much of the other high technology depends on information technologies (IT), the existing evidence on information technology can shed light on high tech industries in general (American Electronics Association, 1999).
According to the Information Technology Association of America, large and mid-size companies have one IT position vacant for approximately every ten. In addition, 68% of IT companies claim that a barrier to the future growth is the lack of skilled and trained workers. Over the span of eight years, United States universities experienced a 43% decline in the awarding of bachelor’s degrees in computer science; a drop from 42,195 in 1986 to 24,200 in 1994. High-tech degrees awarded to students fell 5 percent, from 219,000 graduates to 208,000 between 1990 and 1996. In addition to the falling number of graduates, many companies are concerned about the lack of qualified employees. Of the IT companies surveyed, 69% say only “few” or “some” of their applicants are qualified for the position they are seeking. As a result, business executives are dissatisfied with the skills of workers entering or attempting to enter the workforce. According to the IT survey, many consequences arise from the deficiency of trained workers. The possible outcomes of a lack of skill in the workforce include a retarded growth in the IT companies and an increase in assigning IT work to companies’ overseas (Information Technology Association of America, 1997).
The Information Technology Association of America also released a study last year, Help Wanted: The IT Workforce Gap at the Dawn of a New Century, which cited a number of disturbing trends.
