The Storm Report

COMPUTERWORLD: IT Lost 250,000 Jobs Last Year

Software Services Saw Smallest Dip and Now Quickly Recovering

Even in an economic downturn, tech remained one of the better occupations. However, the U.S. tech industry lost about 250,000 jobs last year, about 4% of its total workforce. Signs of a hiring turnaround have begun though, particularly in software services, according to TechAmerica, an industry group.

While the overall unemployment rate was about 9.3% last year, for computer programmers it was 5.2% and for computer scientists, 6.1%. Software services, which employs 1.9 million people, saw the smallest decline at 1.2% or fewer than 21,000 people when compared to 2008. The largest job loss was experienced in tech manufacturing, which shrank by 8.1% or 112,600 jobs.

According to the article, previous data on the top states reported for technology jobs can provide some insight on hiring trends and which states will soon show improvement. The top five states listed for technology jobs included California at nearly 1 million, Texas at 492,000, New York at 309,000, Florida at 292,000 and Virginia at 283,000.

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True or false? “By the time an employee is walking out the door, the opportunity to gather useful information has already passed.” According to an article published in the April edition of Talent Management magazine, the answer is true. In an effort to boost retention numbers among talented employees, talent managers should consider conducting stay interviews to find out what it takes to retain them.

To help prevent turnover related to economic recovery, organizations are advised to pay some more attention to their talent during the current recession. One way to do this is simply interacting with talented employees and gauging what they want from an employer. Many times, managers fear they won’t be able to deliver on unexpected employee requests.

If this is the case, they may want to consider these four steps first:

1. Tell employees how much they’re valued.
2. Tell the truth about obstacles (for ex. pay freezes).
3. Care enough to look into their requests (follow and let them know what you find).
4. Ask them, “What else?” Managers will hear at least one thing that employees want that they can provide.

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After a successful inaugural training class during the Spring, the SkillStorm Program for Extreme Educational Development, also known as SPEED, returns for a new summer training class set to start on June 14, 2010. The timing of the upcoming SPEED class presents a perfect employment opportunity for recent college graduates who will face a competitive job market this summer.

SPEED is a highly competitive, intense sales training program where top candidates shine as they compete for a Technical Recruiter role in one of fourteen SkillStorm branches nationwide. Only the best candidates will be selected for the six-week, all expenses paid training course. The individuals who are selected for the program will experience a competitive learning environment that combines lecture-style sessions with rigorous, hands-on field experience in recruiter and sales training. At the end of the six weeks, only the best of the class will be offered lucrative, full-time positions.

Interested applicants should complete the free SPEED Personality Assessment to be considered for the program. The assessment can be accessed from the SPEED webpage at www.SkillStorm.com/SPEED.

Candidate Spotlight