When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Hunter S. Thompson

28 June 2005

Geeks, unsurprisingly, can do the math

As tens of thousands of engineering jobs migrate to developing countries, many new entrants into the U.S. work force see info-tech jobs as monotonous, uncreative and easily farmed out -- the equivalent of 1980s manufacturing jobs.

The research firm Gartner Inc. predicts that as many as 15 percent of tech workers will drop out of the profession by 2010, not including those who retire or die. Most will leave because they can't get jobs or can get more money or job satisfaction elsewhere. Within the same period, worldwide demand for technology developers -- a job category ranging from programmers to people who maintain everything from mainframes to employee laptops -- is forecast to shrink by 30 percent.

Gartner researchers say that most people affiliated with corporate information-technology departments will assume "business-facing" roles, focused not so much on gadgets and algorithms but corporate strategy, personnel and financial analysis.

(Read the entire story, by Rachel Konrad of the Associated Press, via the Salem, Oregon Statesman Journal.)

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