IT is hot again
Seven years after the dot-com crash, qualified job applicants are getting scarce

by Doug Childers
for Virginia Business
August 2007

The number of information technology jobs in America is growing again. But companies are having a hard time finding qualified workers to fill these jobs.

Consider Astyra Corp., a Richmond-based staffing and consulting company. It's in the market for 80 IT employees now and will need 150 more by the end of the year. Plus, its consultant pool will increase by more than 75 percent this year, says Sam Young, the company's president.

Astyra, which has about 90 employees, advertises openings on popular job boards like Monster and Dice, as well as the company Web site. But the company may face a delay in filling its positions. A recent study shows that companies can expect to wait 56 days to fill a staff position in an IT department. The wait is even longer, 87 days, to fill an IT management position, says the study's sponsor, Robert Half Technology.

There are many reasons for the current shortage of IT staff. Efforts to address Y2K compliance in 1999 diverted funds from IT projects, and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks shifted company spending into security concerns, says Phil Conein, president of TECHEAD, an IT staffing and training company based in Richmond.

In addition, the demise of many dot-com companies in 2000 scared college students away from IT-related degrees. "As a result of the dot-com crash, parents and students began to think incorrectly that there would be a lack of opportunities in the field," says David Primeaux, associate professor in the computer science department at Virginia Commonwealth University. "So the pipeline started drying up."

Nationally, enrollment in computer science programs continues to fall. "Paradoxically, while the number of jobs in IT isn't growing as fast [as before 2000], it's still growing," Primeaux says. "So the demand is increasing, and the ability to fill the jobs is decreasing."

Until recently, the sagging IT field put companies looking to hire IT professionals at an advantage. "Now, it's a candidate market because corporate America started spending again on external and internal IT business projects in late 2004," Conein says. These projects range from Web development and business data security to business communications integration. The challenge that chief information officers face today is significant: "To integrate — on a budget — current best IT practices with their existing platforms, which may be five years old or older."

TECHEAD has 50 IT openings, although the number fluctuates between 35 and 100. The salary of the average open position is $60,000, with the highest being more than $100,000 and the lowest being in the high $20,000s.

Some IT companies are growing too fast to rely on new recruits to fill all their needs. Strategic Business Systems Inc., a systems integrator in Herndon, has doubled in size each of the last five years. In addition to using proprietary recruiting methods, Sarah Gambach, the company's director of operations, says the company has developed innovative training programs and "a very strong benefits program" to retain existing employees. "The key is not to have to look for a new person every time the clients' needs change," she says. "We need people who can adjust their skills to the workplace."

Currently, Strategic Business Systems has approximately 200 IT employees, and more than 60 percent of them have security clearances, which are especially scarce in the present IT shortage. The company declines to reveal how long it takes to fill its security clearance positions.

"If we had to deal with federal security clearances, it would be a lot harder to find resources," Astyra's Young says.

"They've been a hot commodity for years. If you have a top-secret clearance and IT skills, you'll never have to worry about finding a job in Virginia."

Many federal departments, particularly Defense and State, require top-level security clearances. Astyra's clients, by contrast, are typically large, publicly traded companies such as Capital One, Dominion Resources, Northrop Grumman and Unisys.

Bringing overseas IT professionals to the U.S. is not a viable short-term solution because all H-1B slot allocations for non-immigrant visas have been filled. "Until Congress raises the quota over 65,000, all H-1B visa personnel will have to wait for next year's quota allocation to work in the U.S.," Conein says.

Instead, reducing the IT shortage will require more college students to enter the field, Primeaux contends. Companies also need to increase the salaries they pay IT professionals and do a better job conveying the message that IT is a good career choice, he says.