Information Technology and Employment

[Professor S]

I was how everyone thinks advances in information technology will affect future employment rates? At the company I work for, we haven't laid anyone off, but as people have left we have consolidated positions and departments, reducing the size of the company from over 90 people to about 70 (maybe less) and we've actually adopted a work from home policy, reduced office space and productivity is up from where it was before and we have no plans of created new or replacing old positions. Overall, thats 20 jobs that are no longer available to those looking for work.

The reason I ask this is that with the current recession, a lot of businesses are streamlining and finding alternative methods to get the same amount of work done if not more, with less people using teleconferencing. When the recession ends, will these jobs come back, or will these companies maintain the efficiencies they've discovered?

Secondly, with how the landscape of careers have shifted in America over the last 20 years, is it necesarily a bad thing if they don't come back? Wll new opportunities be created in their stead as technology and business advance?

[Ric]

For some reason you made me think of this -

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Which is really weird since I saw it once, years and years ago.

I believe many of these companies will,, as you put it, maintain the efficiencies they've discovered. I dont want to be a nay sayer but I do not believe a rise in economies will result ia a raise in employment. At least not immediatly anyway, it will take time.

I also think that investiment needs to go into new employment opportunities, the U.S still has a lot to do to effect real change in its climate change policy, in my opinion. What about setting up new companies that build wind turbines and solar panels etc. These industries have viabale financial futures if the government can push these incentives through. I will use Las Vegas as an example, it's in a desert isn't it? Lots of sun ;) Put as many solar panels as you can on the roof of as many buildings as you can, and presto, new jobs created, carbon emmissions reduced. Now apply this on a national scale and think about the possible implications.

Thats just an idea I have at least ;)

[KillerGremlin]

Having done 2 years of IT work and 1 year of an Engineering Intern with some IT....I think the reality is as technology advances the need for IT will increase. The solution cannot be outsourcing your labor, at least not all of it, because a lot of the IT stuff is done in-house. My dad worked at AT&T during the telecom bubble in the 90s (he moved to Lucent). When Lucent crashed they got bought up by some German company and haven't looked back. In that regard, technology "bubbles" create a risky job market. But telecom was fucked and I think smart people saw the signs ahead of time.

You're always going to see jobs outsourced in this field. Programming jobs, software jobs, jobs where the guy sits at a desk and answers a phone, help jobs, etc.

But you're always going to need a staff at location or near location to do server maintenance, to do computer maintenance, and to basically run the company's technology infrastructure. This is the pro and con of IT. The pro is, if you can deal with the competitive nature of the job and you have tons of experience, you can keep a job. The con is because of the recession companies downsize IT like crazy and the requirements to hold a job increase.

The other aspect about IT and technology work is it doesn't really net the company money, at least not directly. Sure, giving employees faster computers increases productivity. Having a good webserver and a good network infrastructure increases efficiency. But these things are not immediate or noticeable by the Accounting and Finance people in companies. Every time I have worked in IT I have seen management battles, IT Department vs. Accounting. It's very cyclical.

1. Employees complain about computer/Internet/servers
2. IT tries to fix these problems, they go to Accounting
3. Accounting shoots IT down unless it's a magical, lucky day
4. IT tells employees they can't buy new computers
5. Employees bitch and hate IT
6. Management wants to know why people don't like IT

So all-in-all, it's rough holding an IT job. (and depressing making people use 7 year old computers).

I'm really just rambling. I think Information Technology is a necessary backbone for most companies, and will be increasingly needed. Our generation (my gen) appreciates computers much more than the current gen of Business types who built their company on little spending. I feel like IT is still not highly valued but data protection, backups, faster computers, better software; these are all necessary for long term success (imo). Especially if you're running an engineering company. I really think part of the problem is you have these 60-year old CEO guys who don't appreciate the power of technology, and that trickles down into the finance and accounting parts of some companies.

You can outsource some tech but you're always gonna need IT. As for jobs like telecom (what's the new Telecom, cell phones? Broadband?)...I think it will see growth in this country along with growth outside, since nowadays outsourcing is basically gonna happen (unless the Fed finds a way to deter companies from doing it).

[KillerGremlin]

I realize I didn't really answer the question well....I think my answer would be:

If companies can cut the IT Department down and successfully run the company, they will keep the IT Department small even if the economy picks up. This means downsizing of IT. I think long term sustainability is going to be compromised however. Eventually they are going to need to drop a ton of money into new servers, or new computers, or new infrastructure, and that will require more IT help. I think a lot of IT departments in companies would maintain the position that they "scrape by" or have periods of wayyyy too much work.

That would be the other caveat of IT. Some stretches (like weeks) have you sitting on your ass all day with nothing to do. And then some weeks are super busy and you don't have any free time. But isn't that how most jobs office jobs go? LOL.

[Professor S]

KG, just to clarify my comments weren't specifically aimed at IT, but how all positions, especially white collar are impacted by information technology.

The jobs that were fazed out in my company were not IT, in fact IT grew by 2 positions. The jobs that were fazed out were mainly high level customer service and middle management. My job is an example, as it used to take 2 managers to do what I do now. One manager left and they simply moved the people under him to my team and with advances in cell phone and internet technology we've been able to increase performance with one less manager and 3 fewer team members. What used to be in person high level customer service calls or on-sote training events are now being fazed out because of the popularity of on-line meetings and training events. We simply need less people to get the same job done, and our clients are happier.

On the flip side... thats four less people employed in my department... and we could probably lose another team member and not even feel it.

[KillerGremlin]

What you are describing reminds me of the automobile assembly lines or robots replacing humans and stuff like that.

Realizing that advances in cell phone and Internet technology allowed them to downsize management to just you, I don't see any reason why they would rehire another manager if the economy improved, unless of course you need more help.

What used to be in person high level customer service calls or on-sote training events are now being fazed out because of the popularity of on-line meetings and training events. We simply need less people to get the same job done, and our clients are happier.

This is an ever increasing trend, for better or worse. I honestly see no reason why any company would rehire people for work that can be done efficiently or even more efficiently without them.

So, in my opinion (and to address this question):

Secondly, with how the landscape of careers have shifted in America over the last 20 years, is it necesarily a bad thing if they don't come back? Wll new opportunities be created in their stead as technology and business advance?

Will new opportunities be created? I think the answer is yes. Increased productivity means companies can pursue more ventures and get more things done faster.

Is it necessarily a bad thing? That I can't really answer. Obviously it's not good for the guys getting laid off. :lolz: At the same time, I would imagine if you are one of the people who got laid off, you kind of had to expect or realize you are not a huge asset to the company.

I've noticed that many companies are laying off management. Management are often the unneeded middleman.

[KillerGremlin]

I've noticed that at the companies I have worked at that managers are become multifaceted. Many managers at the last job I had, for example, are also Engineers working on other projects. So as a result the company let some of management go and replaced them with head Engineer guys. If that system works well I doubt they would rehire management unless management could offer something that would greatly improve the company.