• E-mail this page
• |  Print this page
• | 
• | 
• | 

Seeding IT's Future

My colleague Johanna Ambrosio brings up the very issue I've been mulling for a while - so what are we gonna do about it? She pitches some interesting ways of addressing pieces of the problem - offering telecommuting and rehiring retired Baby Boomers as consultants. InformationWeek's editorial director, Bob Evans, zero'd in on the role he sees universities playing in contributing to this problem, and offered up some suggestions in terms of what he thinks they should be doing.

All good stuff, but I think we can go further. We need to, because it's not just the next generation of IT workers employers need to be worried about. It's clear there are some very unhappy members within the existing base of IT workers. They aren't sure they're going to stay, and they certainly won't be encouraging anyone else to get in.

The people I think who really hold the key to addressing this problem are the very people who created much of it - the vendors and user companies who for whatever reasons put thousands of IT workers out on the street over the last decade. Downsizing, outsourcing, the advent of permatemps - whatever. The message came through loud and clear - you are not valued, and you are not needed (just take a look at the reader posts on the blog). Those workers lucky enough to keep their jobs feel massively overworked and underappreciated. And now that the chickens have come home to roost - job openings have picked up - we're seeing a lot of hand wringing over this supposedly inexplicable shortage of IT workers.

What's astounding, really, is that these captains of industry can't see that they are reaping what they've sown. And universities can offer all the computer science classes they want - but if it's not the right stuff, then it won't matter one whit at the end of the day.

Instead of mocking students who pragmatically abandon computer science for more promising job prospects, frustrated employers need to get off their duffs and do two things: get involved much earlier in the process of creating interest in IT as a career, and work with existing staff both to change their work environments for the better, and to provide the incentives and career guidance they need to take a more positive view of their chosen field.

In recent weeks we've seen some scattered movement in that direction -IBM's baby boomer service, IBM's advice to retiring Boomers and a university-business partnership, but that's not even a drop in the bucket. A much wider, more concerted effort needs to be put into motion.

I'm talking about an upfront investment with no immediate payoff. The initial results will probably be incremental, but over time, I'm betting we'll see a snowball effect if everyone pitches in, and tackles this issue from multiple angles. Vendors can, for example:

* Link up with local university computer science programs to sponsor either specific types of training or internships, which can help to create a farm system of sorts to fill future openings. More companies should be doing this. The colleges and universities need the financial support; the kids need the experience, some assurance of employment and a future to look forward to; and the companies need a steady supply of properly trained workers.

* Offer strings-attached college scholarships to the brightest high school computer students, or even step in at some point in a college student's career, the way ROTC does for example, and offer a scholarship and internship package. High-tech companies that are not doing this should be. Think seed corn people.

* Hold a summit with like-minded companies and any higher institution of learning in your area that offers computer science, and help mold the future curriculum of these departments. Offer up course ideas, offer to run workshops or teach classes, offer up your vision of the future workforce. Computer companies know what they are working on in their labs, and they know what's coming down the pike. Clue in the educators, and you might stand a better chance of harvesting the workforce you really need.

To keep the back channels filled with prospects, these same companies could singularly or jointly with other companies or local IT programs, sponsor summer computer science camps. And not just for high school kids. Think younger age groups. A former colleague sent her daughter regularly to such a camp, and since she went back for at least a couple of years running, I have to assume it helped to cement the child's interest and boost her skills in technology. (Which reminds me, these camps are a great way to rope girls into computer science at an early age, again, helping to boost their confidence in math and the sciences. This was a major issue in a recent Microsoft webcast on research spending and the worker shortage, and something that hits home with CIOs like Linda Dillman of Walmart - I'll expound on this more in an upcoming blog).

* In a similar vein, computer companies could help to sponsor computer science fairs and research projects, providing cash, mentoring and equipment. You bet those kids will remember who helped them out.

* Reward employees who get involved in these programs. They are not likely to benefit directly from their efforts, but the company and the industry may very well down the road. And it's not fair to expect employees who already work massive overtime, may have other priorities, and oh, a life, to get involved for nothing.

* Think long and hard about outsourcing. First of all, if that's what you are doing - call a spade a spade. We don't need any more euphemisms for outsourcing. For every job you outsource - talk up the ones you wouldn't outsource, and the ones you'll need.And then don't outsource them. Kids need to know what the "safe" jobs are; employees need to know that their jobs are "safe." If you see valued employees in vulnerable jobs - tell them, and then help craft a retraining program and schedule.

Computer companies aren't the only people concerned about being able to hire good staff. In the short term, corporate IT departments needing a quick fix might want to hark back to the '90s, when some companies experimented with pooling their IT resources. The program was voluntary for the workers, who I am sure got some sort of incentive and additional experience - and they were parsed out on a project-by-project basis. Work stayed local, projects got done and at a reasonable cost. Longer term, there is no reason corporate IT departments can't invest in internships, mentoring and even building relationships with local computer science program.

A long long time ago, practically in another galaxy, I remember interviewing Bob Metcafe, an industry luminary who is no stranger to the concept of reinventing oneself. As we were talking about dwindling research dollars, Bob was lamenting that fact, and warned that we were (here it is again) "killing our seed corn."

I've always thought that applied as well to the outsourcing of specific job skills. And now, today, it sticks even more urgently in my mind as I listen to Gate's frustration and read feedback from readers who wouldn't dream of encouraging their kids to consider IT as a viable career. We are well past the "disgruntled unemployed" such negativity is usually attributed to.

If you want the current crop of IT workers to help inspire, recruit and mentor the next generation, then you have to provide them with the evidence they need to prove that this is indeed a worthwhile, rewarding and financially secure career choice. If the people in the field aren't interested in staying in, ain't nobody else going to want to come in.

We have to reverse this tide somehow, and in very large part - it's up to the very people who have contributed to the demise of IT as career to get out there and lead the way in turning things around. If you want kids to invest in computer science then you need to show them how IT is going to invest in them. Kids today take their cues from the movies: It's time to show them the money - and successful role models they can look up to. Who is up for the challenge?

« Room For Improvement | Main | Digital Rights and Wrongs »