Demend for IT workers part 2
According to an industry report, 2013 is the best year where employment for Information Technology (IT) graduates reaches the highest demand. As more companies from every sector is hiring IT workers, the shortage go from critical to crucial. Even with over hundred thousand foreign IT workers are allowed to come and work in the U.S each year, the shortage is keeping more severed as the demand keep increasing fast.
Today automakers such as Ford, GM, Toyota, and Volkswagen all want to hire more IT workers and they are competing with software companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon.com. The reason is automakers are increasingly use computer systems in their cars and IT skilled workers are difficult to find so automakers are aggressively go to universities and hire as many IT graduates as possible. An Industry analyst explained: “All future cars will have sophisticated computer systems, everything will be controlled electronically and in the next few years, self-driven cars will be the reality that is why IT skills are needed. Imagine that you go to your car and tell the car where you want to go. The voice recognition software translates your voice to the car's control system who verifies the destination with you then uses the Global Position System (GPS) to direct your car to drive. With sensors and radars to monitor traffic, you can sit in the car reading newspapers, listen to music, or check emails and the car will take you to wherever you want. Although today there are only few thousand self-driven cars being used but the number is increasing fast. For example, Google founder Sergey Brin has been using Self-driven car to go to work for over a year now. He said it allows him more time to work in the car instead of driving. Several movies stars, rock stars and even senators and congressman also own self-driving cars. The industry expects that as more people are buying self-driving cars, the price will drop to a level that many will be able to afford them.
As banking, financial and insurance companies automate their processes; they need more IT workers too. A Wall Street analyst said that after the financial crisis, banks and financial companies began to set up many computer checkpoints throughout their operation to alert managers of any anomaly as they do not trust people anymore. Many banks executives believe that people had made many mistakes and bad loans that led to the financial crisis of 2007. By having computer systems, they could improve the detection of bad loans, frauds, misplaced loans and inappropriate use of financial transactions etc. because computers would set alarm if anyone tempers with the loan process or if the numbers cannot be verified. To do that they need more skilled IT workers as they are embracing new technologies such as Big Data, mobile, and Cloud Computing. The analyst wrote: “IT investments by banking and financial organizations are expected to exceed $471 billion by the end of 2013, a 14 percent increase since 2010. These investments are expected to grow another 20 percent in the next ten years as bank and financial are global businesses with offices and operations spreading all over the world and that means they will need IT workers from ever country that they operate. Today banks and financial companies do not need business people as many things will be automated by computers but they need more IT people to manage these systems. That is why the Master of Business Administration (MBA) is no longer the desire degree but Information System Management (ISM) is becoming one of the highest demand degrees in this financial sector.
In the past five years, the insurance industry has been investing heavily in information technology, collecting a lot of data as they are set up special systems to detect frauds, bad claims etc. An executive explained: “For years, the tradition is using people to process these insurance claims but today we are using computers to do that work because computer do not lie, do not cheat, and they make decisions based on rules not emotions. Within the next five years, the insurance industry will have more IT workers than business and accounting workers and we are concentrating on Big Data analytics, mobile, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, all of them are taught in Information Technology program NOT business program and that is why we are focusing on hiring computer science and information system management graduates.
Another industry that also competes for IT workers is healthcare industry. As they are increasingly using computers to automate their processes to improve efficiency in hospitals, doctors' offices, they need more IT workers. With the mandatory use of electronic health record is hospitals, increasing use of electronic devices and mobile phones; the entire healthcare sector is changing rapidly. Today doctors can examine patients from far away, using telemedicine technology, even minor surgeries can be done remotely using robots, patients are being monitored by electronic sensors and with these technologies, more IT skilled workers are needed.
However to compete with the technology industry is not easy. An executive explained: “For years, IT students dream of working for Google, Facebook, and Amazon.com and they do not think of banking, hospital or insurance company as a “Cool” place to work so we need to hire younger managers and “Tech-savvy managers” to help our industry to overcome difficulties in attracting top tech talent. Of course, working for Google is “Hip” and working for “Facebook” is “Cool” so what we do is to attract IT skilled workers by giving them something difference. Instead of sitting in a small office in front of computer as most technology companies do, we offer them a direct interface with customers such as changing location every few years. For example, if you work for an international bank, you can work in Paris for a year then move to Hong Kong then to Australia. As long as we have offices in any country, you could relocate to work there. It is very attractive to young IT workers and that is why we can compete with technology company.” As many changes and transformation starts to happen in these industries, the workplaces of a bank, an automakers, and an insurance company will change quickly with younger technology workers.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
