By Tom Espiner, 15 May 2008 08:55
NEWS
Three-quarters of IT professionals would recommend an IT career to their children, a survey by careers website The IT Job Board has found.
Bucking the current, gloomy economic outlook caused by the sub-prime lending crisis in the US, the majority of IT professionals are also relatively upbeat about the technology industry and their future careers, the survey found. Sixty-nine per cent of the 956 survey respondents said their company's market position was "somewhat secure" or "very secure".
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As for pay increases, 70 per cent of respondents said they expected one in the coming year, although 54 per cent expected their salary to rise "only slightly". A quarter thought their salary would remain the same, while two per cent predicted their salary would decrease. The IT Job Board said that the overall outlook for IT careers was positive.
Alex Farrell, managing director of The IT Job Board, said: "The overriding conclusion of the research is that the IT sector is perceived to be a rewarding industry in which to work. Despite the currently gloomy predictions, the IT sector also appears to be holding up well to the newly tough economic climate."
However, the survey also showed up age and gender imbalances in the IT profession. The respondents who felt most secure in their jobs were all under 40 years old, while only 13 per cent of respondents were female, reflecting the gender divide in IT.
Female respondents were most likely to respect colleagues who had an IT-related degree, with 34 per cent saying they would "somewhat agree" that the colleagues they most respected had a relevant qualification. Men had less respect for such qualifications: 35 per cent of respondents said they "somewhat disagree" with the statement: "The technology professionals I respect most generally have a relevant university degree".
Turnover in the IT sector also seems to be high, according to the survey results, although, for the majority of respondents, moving jobs is a voluntary process. Sixty-two per cent of respondents have been in their current role for two years or less, while 81 per cent have been in their job for five years or less. This could reflect the make-up of the respondents, however: 30 per cent were IT consultants.
Comments
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1. anonymous
I work in a top programming team in a large software company, neither my own nor any of my colleagues kids are going into software, and most of us have recommended against it. Now that jobs are being sent to India in large numbers you cant possibly rely on this industry to pay for your house or family. And what use is a job where you are "too old" at 40 and they want to kick you out on the scrapheap anyway? Also the pay is much lower now in real terms than it used to be. If I had my time again I'd never choose computers, and I hope my kids will decide on a real career instead.
2. Karen Challinor
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone now
the position has been devalued from when I first joined the industry, then an IT person was respected for their skills and appreciated for their contribution to business
the managers have taken over with the "a good manager doesn't have to know the field just the people" attitude and turned skilled IT people into disposable grunts
so despite IT giving me a career where I was lucky enough to do something I loved and still love, I wish I had chosen a different one and I strongly urge anyone thinking of a career in IT to think again, 20 to 40 isn't a long time to build up a retirement fund but unless you are very lucky thats about how long you'll have