THE DYNAMICS OF THE IT LABOR MARKET After the recession years of the early 1990s, the IT market picked up rapidly as new systems were required and the Internet started to have its impact. The market for IT staff reached a fever pitch by the middle of 1996. Corporations could not recruit or retain IT staff fast enough. Outrageous deals in salaries, bonuses, stock options, and other compensation were made to attract the right staff. As a result of this, job-hopping became rampant. By 1998, another problem was looming that would last for several years—the year 2000 or Y2K bug. The year 2000—thanks to the open question of whether legacy computer systems would be able to handle the rollover in century—posed one of the most significant challenges ever faced by the IT industry, which had an enormous impact on business applications, package solutions, and systems software. The year 2000, however, posed a significant business opportunity for external service provider (ESP) vendors. Suddenly, those with older skills, such as COBOL programmers, could command the same compensation packages as cutting-edge Internet and e-commerce specialists. Addressing the Y2K bug was the largest project ever undertaken by most corporate IT organizations. Enormous numbers of IT staff, both internal and external, were drafted to solve the problem. And solve the problem they did. Now, Y2K is a distant memory. Next came the Internet and e-commerce stampede. Almost all corporations rushed to put up Web sites, intranets, and extranets in the hope of rapid transition to globalization. The stampede lead some corporations to the edge of the cliff and then over. "Dot.gone" and "Dot.bomb" became new phrases in the English language. Now that the dust from the Internet stampede has settled, and consolidation has produced a stable of fine companies and products, the long-talked-about Internet prophecy is starting to be realized. But as globalization and the growth of e-business continue to raise the levels of IT diversity most companies must manage, the need for some sort of unifying framework is more important than ever. And much harder to achieve. |
