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Are young people staying away from tech careers because young people are foolish and shallow, concerned only with big bucks and glamour? Or are there smarter reasons? The answer to that question will determine how best to attract young Americans into tech careers in the future.

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The healthcare industry plans to increase IT hiring about 5% in the fourth quarter, according to a new report. The figure might not appear to be blockbuster, but it's above the national average. Overall, CIOs across many industries plan to add zero tech people to their staffs in the near term.

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As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the federal government is funding numerous new technical assistance centers to help doctors and hospitals deploy e-medical records systems. That should fill some support needs. But won't many doctors require more hand-holding and won't most hospitals need tech people working closely with clinicians on-site? Where will all this talent come from?

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After months of gloom and doom, are companies again hiring new CIOs? Some executive recruiters say yes. And apparently, some of those employers want an upgrade.

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Job interviews rank up there with root canal for most people. Wouldn't you want to know in advance the trickiest question your prospective employer might ask on your job interview?

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John Glaser, CIO at Partners Healthcare, will be heading down to D.C. the week of May 4, to begin a six month stint helping to hammer out details of the federal government's $20 billion stimulus programs for health IT.

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Though the Obama administration still has lots of key positions to fill--including naming a federal chief technology officer-- one critical appointment was made last week that will help fill in many of the important details related to Obama's nearly $20 billion health IT stimulus program.

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The recession is turning out to be a career-booster for some folks within IT management ranks, but a dream-buster for a lot of CIOs looking for new jobs.

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When Microsoft announced plans in January to lay off 5,000 workers over 18 months, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, fired off a letter questioning Microsoft about who the company was planning to cut. Grassley wanted to know whether Microsoft -- which has been lobbying Congress for years to raise the cap on H-1B visas -- would cut foreign workers before Americans. Grassley finally got a reply from Microsoft yesterday.

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Compared with other job sectors, the IT labor force has been holding up relatively well during the recession. And now there's an extra boost -- the government's economic stimulus programs should fuel demand for new tech talent in several key areas.

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Are IT jobs defying gravity as overall U.S. employment figures continue to tank? Latest monthly employment figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a recent IT pay trends study by research firm Foote Partners sheds some insight into what IT skills remain hot in an ice-cold jobs climate.

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If the global economy doesn't improve over the next six months, there's likely to be more industry consolidation, not only involving IT services providers, but especially among big outsourcing clients, predicts Girish Paranjpe, joint CEO of Wipro Technologies.

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In the past, IT services vendors often resisted terms clients tried to include in their offshoring contracts. But in the aftermath of Satyam's financial fraud mess, outsourcers will be more willing to bend on client demands, especially if they're anxious to pick up work from Satyam's ex-customers.

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Microsoft's plans to lay off 5,000 workers have ruffled the feathers of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a long-time critic of the U.S. H-1B visa program. Microsoft, a top 10 employer of H-1B visa holders, has been among the most vocal tech companies over the last several years urging Congress to raise the cap on H-1B visas. Now Grassley is urging Microsoft to furlough those temporary foreign workers first before handing out pink slips to Americans and permanent U.S. residents.

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There's a little more than a month before President-elect Barack Obama gets sworn in. Based on the hints he's provided so far about his economic stimulus plans and other programs, some pundits are predicting that demand for IT jobs will take off, especially in key sectors.

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Is your IT organization hiring? If so, you'll likely be getting a flood of resumés soon. A new report says that there's been a pretty recent sharp decline in hiring plans by IT organizations for the next six months.

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There's finally some inequality in the workplace that benefits women, but it's not all good news. It doesn't bode well for couples or families. And it may not last.

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The economy has everyone on edge. But during these uncertain times, there are a few maneuvers tech professionals can make to help survive -- and maybe even thrive -- during the downturn.

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Do you know what your IT staffers are thinking? Are you sure? Unless you're in the trenches with them, their concerns may surprise you -- and they'll definitely make you laugh.

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Is your kid's school using technology in innovative, exceptional, or surprising ways? I'm not talking only about in-the-classroom use of computers; I'm also referring to technology that's being deployed behind the scenes.

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Feel that? It's the economy quaking. With the House rejecting the $700 billion bailout bill, stocks seesawing, and loads of uncertainty looming, it's possible you'll have more candidates than you ever imagined applying for jobs at your company. Are you ready to handle that?

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People tend to think of lower-cost IT services -- and not "innovation" -- when Indian outsourcer Wipro Technologies' name is mentioned. So, it may come as a surprise that $1 billion, or about a quarter of Wipro's revenue last year, was generated through R&D services -- including designing semiconductors, automobile parts, and a variety of electronic devices. Looking ahead, Wipro says those R&D services will become an even bigger chunk of the company's business.

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A scarcity of experienced talent combined with the growing popularity of SAP's NetWeaver platform and other products has helped pump up pay considerably for SAP-related skills in recent months, according to a new report.

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The CIO of a Canadian heavy equipment company delivered a warning about what happens to companies that fail to take local customs into account when doing business internationally: What happens when your contractors just stop showing up?

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I can't say I'm surprised by what CIOs told me at the InformationWeek 500 conference about Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites: They're just not into those services. However, the CIOs see that young people have a very different attitude. Social networks are their primary channel for communication, and so companies need to be hospitable to social networks to continue to attract young recruits.

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In a couple of hours, I'll be driving to the InformationWeek 500 Conference, which starts today. It's a two-day annual event where elite CIOs and high-level IT managers gather to learn from each other about how to optimize their careers and departments for success

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Think your DBA job pays well? Not as good as some database administrators, according to a research study sponsored by Ntirety and produced by Unisphere Research. One hint: it's all about location, location, location.

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Time for a change? If you're a CIO, it's always time for change. Whether it's the more optimistic, positive sort of change (i.e., growing the business) or the less pleasant (heck, painful) kind of change, like cutting costs, you'd better be ready.

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It's been a long-running complaint that there aren't enough young people entering the IT field. But judging by the laundry list of experience and skills some employers demand from IT job candidates, you have to wonder if young people just starting out their careers even have a shot at being hired.

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What do IT staff, mechanics, and laborers all have in common? They're among the 10 hardest job titles to fill nationally this year, according to a new study.

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Tech salaries inched up recently after slumping earlier this year, according to a new wage report from an IT services and staffing firm. Could this the beginning of an upward trend or just a blip?

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You think you've got problems stretching your multimillion (or multibillion) dollar IT budget? How hard do you think it is to stretch a multi-thousand-dollar IT budget? That's what many IT leaders in smaller organizations are faced with. At InformationWeek, we write a lot about issues faced by CIOs at large companies. But IT managers in small- and medium-sized businesses face huge challenges, too.

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In the current economic climate, hiring new people is something that's put on the back burner at many organizations -- especially if there's any threat that a "reduction in headcount" might be in the cards. But, that doesn't mean no one is hiring IT people. In fact, certain talent is still hard to find and highly sought after at some organizations.

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A scandal is brewing in Massachusetts about whether an executive at a vendor violated state conflict of interest rules by allegedly offering a state official--in this case a department CIO-- a job. What sort of rules do you or your company have about job offers from vendors?

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Recession or no recession, dot-com boom or bust, bull or bear market, it doesn't seem to matter. For as long as I've been covering tech career trends (about 15 years,) employers have complained about shortages of IT professionals who have the right balance of "people skills" and tech-skills du jour. However, now there's a new skill shortage developing--a scarcity of "emotionally intelligent" IT leaders. Have you tapped into your emotional intelligence today?

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The beleaguered financial services industry can be a bleak place to work these days. But not to Denis Stypulkoski, the new CIO of start-up firm Tygris Commerical Finance Group, where he says optimism and opportunity abound.

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A new report forecasting the top 10 workplace trends of the future says video and Web conferencing will make business travel extinct while social networking sites and other Web 2.0 technologies emerge as the primary tools for job recruiting. Is your organization ready to support these and other workplace trends? Or maybe you're already making these shifts.

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With gasoline prices rising above $4 a gallon, a recent survey found that 40% of tech workers would willingly take a pay cut to telecommute. Meanwhile, more employers are apparently offering IT pros the choice to work remotely as a perk to attract hard-to-find skills. Is telecommuting an option you offer your staff?

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Unemployment numbers are rising, according to the U.S. government's latest labor stats. In the hunt for new work, do you think a Web-based video resumé would help you stand out from other job candidates? Some folks think it's worth a try.

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How do you thank your hardest working staff? Is it through once-a-year raises, or perhaps with occasional bonuses? Some companies are using Web-based services to recognize outstanding employee performance throughout the year with small rewards that can really add up in goodwill.

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Summer is almost here. Do you know where your employees are? When colleagues are on vacation, those back in the office are often left scrambling to make up the work that's left behind, especially when there's a project deadline approaching. But project resource planning tools can help.

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Women prefer careers working with living things, rather than "inorganic matter," according to a study recently blogged about by my colleague, Richard Martin. But how come more females don't seem to realize that a successful career in the business technology field is all about working with people? People are "living things," too, right?

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Last week, SAP announced new university alliances to prepare future professionals with business, tech, and soft skills needed in the rollout of NetWeaver, ERP 6.0, and other popular SAP products. This week, the company talked to me about the work under way with other third parties to help fill the talent gap now.

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Having a hard time finding professionals to staff your SAP software rollouts? That's apparently the case for many organizations implementing NetWeaver, ERP 6.0, and other SAP technologies, as well as the third-party companies assisting in the deployments.

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What do future generations think about the state of Java and its relevance to their research? The answer may surprise you, and Sun.

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You'd think there'd be more female tech pros peeved about earning 10% less than their male counterparts. But interestingly, our new 2008 InformationWeek salary survey of 9,653 IT pros indicates that money matters more to men, while women are most concerned about the job's challenges and responsibilities.

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When was the last time you got a call from a headhunter? Have those calls cooled down lately? Think it's due to the weak economy, or do you think it's possible that you're just not that "hot" anymore?

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Got a lot on your plate? How would you like to be the IT shop? While the common belief is that one-person IT departments are typically the stuff of start-ups and mom-and-pop businesses, that's not always the case.

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Money is always quick and easy bait to keep valued staff from leaving. But how do you retain -- or even attract -- key talent when budgets are tight?

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If your H-1B visa petition was among the 163,000 filed earlier this month, you've got about a 50/50 shot that your application was selected in the government's H-1B lottery the other day. Fifty-fifty odds look great if you're playing lotto. But they're not so hot when you're playing games with people's jobs.

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