By editorial@silicon.com, 23 March 2001 15:15
NEWS Chancellor Schröder said he believes the recent turbulence in the IT market could in fact create a solid basis for a long-lasting upturn. "The industry will remain the driving force for the growth of the world economy, everything will just run a little more realistically," he said. "A signal will go out from the [CeBIT] trade fair that the New Economy has grown up." However, Volker Jung, president of industry association Bitkom, appeared less confident. "A keen wind is blowing in our faces," said Jung. He added that although Bitkom believes there will be a turnover growth of 8.7 per cent in the IT market for the current year, this figure should not hide the fact that the situation is currently worse than it was a year ago. Above all, the weak markets overseas have led to increasing pricing pressure, he said. Meanwhile, Schröder had some practical news regarding the IT skills crisis, announcing that the existing five-year period for green card working visas will be put up for discussion. Bitkom president Jung said there is "definitely no sense", in the current restriction. To date, 6,000 Greencards have been given to foreign IT specialists.
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