InformationWeek

July 9, 1999

Solving The IT Labor Shortage

By Lou Bertin

Recent Columns

The Cloud Surrounding The Silver Lining

What Took Them So Long?

The Microsoft Case: It's All Over But the Lawyering

Keeping Up With The Pace Of Change: The Duh! Effect

More Observer archives

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Labor Intensive

IT Skills Gap Demands Action

The Age Factor

y last column, "The Cloud Surrounding The Silver Lining", drew an uncommon amount of reader mail. Pity in some ways that it did because the subject matter, in part, dealt with the only truly depressing aspect of the technology-driven economic boom in which we revel: the people shortage.

The irony that surrounds the people issue--the fact that only the shortage of skilled IT professionals threatens the short-term and long-term prospects for a sustained global economic renaissance--was hammered home for me by the circumstances surrounding a recent conversation.

While attending last month's e-Business Expo, a CMP Media conference focusing on the growth potential the online medium brings to virtually all aspects of business and commerce, I fell into conversation with Laura Willard and Christopher Jones, who work for the state of North Dakota's Economic Development Authority. The dilemma confronting them: how to attract technology companies to their state, where educated labor is plentiful and the ebbing of an agrarian economy provides ample motivation for those workers to seek the skills they need.

On the one hand, one might reasonably expect enterprises desperate for employees to follow the economic model expressed by bank robber Willie Sutton, who, when asked why he robbed banks, replied simply, "Because that's where the money is." But as Willard and Jones explained, companies haven't as yet been willing to set their talent recruitment and development sights on where the workers are. A sobering note at an event that celebrated technology successes great and small.

More sobering still were some of the messages I got from readers, who offered a combination of suggestion and lament that underscores the depth of the problem and provides some hope by pointing out the breadth of potential solutions.

The letters generally fell into three categories: those urging industry to look near, those urging the industry to look far, and those urging the industry to look ahead. Several readers pointed out that potential solutions are, if not at our very doorsteps, close at hand. This viewpoint was best expressed by Robert Hanlon of DynTech, who points out that senior workers "who have been downsized out of senior analyst jobs retain very applicable skills that could be much better used" throughout the industry.

Others point out that the North American economy has long looked offshore for solutions to labor shortages. Humberto Valenzuela of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Mexico City astutely observes that "intelligence is distributed equally around the globe," while Simon Raban of Swift Solutions Inc. advocates that the U.S. government "open the immigration gates" to address the shortage.

Each of the suggestions plainly has merit. Should state development dollars be invested in creating a technology-tailored economic environment? Absolutely, and the sooner the better. Are there, particularly in tech-heavy geographies, legions of experienced, technology-grounded older workers? Indeed, and the savviest of recruiters have gone after these workers with a vengeance, Gen-X corporate cultures notwithstanding. Seeking talented and/or eager-to-learn immigrants to alleviate the shortage? As the son of immigrant parents, I am unabashed in backing this solution. The next-generation solution? If we abandon that, we may as well gird ourselves for a return to a smokestack economic model.

Notably, apart from the indirect involvement of the federal government in fine-tuning immigration policies, none of the correspondents advocated that Washington be responsible for setting the tone, much less the agenda, for coming up with a solution. Whew!

If there's one thing that holds true here, I think, it's that--like politics--all economies are local. I'm not naive enough to think that there's no need for federal economic policies that presumably complement those of other nations, but the winners in the people race will be those communities, counties, and states smart enough, willing enough, and, in the end, willful enough to make the investments required to retool.

Hike a school tax to invest in technology curricula? Sacrifice short-term tax revenues by granting incentives that attract tech-dependent enterprises (and which enterprises aren't?)? Augment existing adult-education programs to help retrain older workers? The answer to all is an unqualified yes.

And for the companies that will ultimately benefit from geographies that come equipped with skilled labor pools and provide an attractive economic environment: Get involved now and make the investment of your expertise. Join and work with your economic development authority. Give time to your school board to ensure that curricula are on target. Donate those "outdated" 486-based PCs.

To those within the industry who gnash their teeth over how they can't solve their labor problems, it seems the only logical advice is to step up to the plate by doing just one thing to help. And if that's not enough, try another. The pieces all are in place; now it's time to start moving forward.

Lou Bertin is managing editor of CMP Media's Business Forums Group and an industry consultant. He can be reached at BertinL@aol.com.