IT in America - The future.

The American economy has had many ups and downs the last few years in terms of provisioning of jobs for IT workers with dot com crash/telco crash etc. Often people look at alternative sources of employment. This has included nursing, construction and lately across boards medicine and law and financial analysts. I find the latter a bizzare choice as the banks are writing off debts at the moment.

I just wondered what your feelings where on things?

Lawyers work long hours as do Doctors. They also incur tremendous debts to get the necessary education they require to stay 'on task'. They also need to become members of law practices and surgical teams..again a big 'suck up' or 'put out' however you want to put it to get there. That 'suck up' or 'put out' costs them money I can assure you.

The problem is too many people are looking for what pays big dollars. There are a very limited number of jobs available that will absorb Lawyers and Doctors. In no way does it compensate for the need of IT professionals ( or any other professionals for that matter) to earn more money.

Financial services? Forget it. It's not about being super smart in that sphere..there are lots of smart people out there. It's about getting in and those that choose have many super smart folks to choose from there and banks are laying people off right now.

Again, add up requirement for Lawyers/ Doctors and Financial Analysts and you are still way off the numbers needed to satisfy the IT Pro's in the US, or anywhere else for that matter.

Now for IT. There are, and still will be for many years to come, great opportunities for IT Professionals to make a great living but you need to be on top of your game. That doesn't mean having the latest cert in this or that..a far eastern sweatshop has many qualified candidates with that piece of paper.

So does that mean you will lose your jobs? Well if you work for a big company possibly. If you work for a smaller shop it's less risky.

China and India? Well they are emerging economies but remember that what is happening out there was financed by the west. Venture capitalists from the west went in there years ago with capital to set these places up, and while they were in Mumbai they had plenty of servants running around after them. I listened to a piece in the BBC in 1997 to that effect regarding expats. I discussed it with US friends at the time but they were too busy watching the superbowl.

Will they take your jobs? Probably..if you work for a big company or multinational. The folks that run those companies want to make profits and keep cost down. So the HB1's come in.

The future? Well eventually as the dollar falls and Indian/Chinese currency increases and the reliance on US companies on offshore IT continues as it will....I think eventually a large number of Indian or Chinese people who took your jobs will be relocating to a place near you to get away from the overcrowding and pollution of what they have back home. So expect some new neighbors over the next 5 -10 years. The US is a good place to live afterall. And why not have these workers on your own soil, if after all they have done a good job overseas? A deal on those terms may help the US trade deficit to some extent (Im not an economist but if the US keeps borrowing the way it does it will probably sink, so a deal will need to be made. This will probably include relaxed rules of entry to the US if the money is to come forward).

So the folks that lost jobs end up living close by to folks who took those jobs.

Is it all doom? No. Be careful on your spending. Watch your money. Sharpen your skills and market yourself and you may be ok. But the next 5 years are going to be difficult so watch your spending.

On the upside..the US will turn providing education for it's kids is 'white hot'..which requires reform..and US kids can afford to go to college..uncertain as it's proving difficult for US kids to get the loans they need and the jobs at the end of them!