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      100,000 IT Jobs Gained in 2010

      January 14, 2011 /

      Information Technology

      When it came to employment, the IT industry ended 2010 with a bang by adding 3,500 jobs in December. This represents the 13th consecutive monthly increase for IT employment.

      According to a monthly index of IT jobs developed and published by TechServe Alliance, a collaboration of IT services firms, clients, consultants and suppliers, in December, IT employment stood at 3,911,900  jobs; reflecting incremental growth of 0.1 percent. Along with December’s positive news were upward revisions of both October’s and November’s IT employment numbers. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment was up 2.6 percent, approximately 100,000 jobs, compared to only a 0.9 percent increase in total non-farm employment.

      Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance mentions that the industry has not yet gained all of the jobs back that were lost during the economic downturn, but gaining 100,000 IT jobs in 2010 is “most welcome news.” This is also great news for graduates and anyone entering college with their eye on establishing a career in the IT industry.

      So what does it take to get your foot in the door at one of the nation’s top IT firms? A bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement for most IT positions, no matter where you apply. For management positions, most employers require a graduate degree, specifically an MBA with a technology focus. Common majors for undergraduates include management information systems (MIS), computer science, or information science. Job experience through an internship or other IT position is also required.

      While IT employment is expected to grow overall, some career fields within the IT industry are expected to grow faster than others. For example, employment for “computer and information systems managers” is expected to grow by 17 percent for the 2008-2018 decade while employment for “computer software engineers and computer programmers” is expected to grow by an impressive 21 percent. Even better is “computer network, systems, and database administrators” at 23 percent.

      IT salaries are at an all-time high as well. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. IT professionals can expect to earn an average median salary of anywhere from $69,740 on the low end, up to $112,210+ per year on the high end.

      Image Credit

      Information Technology Services of Cabarrus County, NC
      www.cabarruscounty.us/ITS

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Compensation, Your Education, Your Workplace

      Widespread Layoffs Lead to More Workplace Discrimination Filings

      January 12, 2011 /

      Hearing Impaired Person at Workplace_Wikimedia Commons

      It happened after the 2001 recession and it’s happening again. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a report stating that workplace discrimination filings increased from 93,277 to 99,922 between September 2009 and the end of September 2010. The 7.2 increase is the highest level of new discrimination cases ever recorded.

      Workplace discrimination cases are typically filed when a worker feels he has been unfairly treated based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected category. The EEOC report shows that the largest increase in filings was from disabled workers. According to a recent NYT report, “this increase may be linked to recent changes in the legal definition of disability to make it more expansive. The Obama administration’s growing reputation of greater interest in discrimination cases than its predecessor may also have increased filings. But experts say the chief reason for the increase in accusations of prejudice is most likely tied to the broad layoffs of the last few years.”

      Many employer’s feel that most of the discrimination case filings with the EEOC  are “spurious attempts by workers with no job opportunities who have not experienced discrimination.”

      “The majority of the time, the EEOC is still finding no reasonable cause for the charges being filed,” said Michael S. Burkhardt, an employment partner in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who represents employers in discrimination class-action suits. “In some cases, people are just upset that they were terminated, and they happen to be in a protected category. Even if that has nothing to do with why they were terminated, they still file a charge.”

      He added that employers have had to become increasingly careful about how they structure layoffs when they reduce their work forces, as many have done since the financial crisis began several years ago.

      If you feel that you have been discriminated against in the workplace, contact the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission at 1-800-669-4000 (1-800-669-6820 TTY) or visit the official EEOC website at www.eeoc.gov.

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Network, Your Workplace

      Ford to Hire 7,000 Plus by 2012

      January 11, 2011 /

      Ford_Auto Show 1-10-11

      Ford Motor Company has announced plans to hire around 7,250 workers by 2012. Included in the figure are 1,800 new hires for 2011 at the company’s Louisville, Kentucky plant. Of the 7,250 new hires, 4,000 hourly positions and 750 salaried positions will be added in 2011, and 2,500 hourly jobs will be added in 2012. Ford made the announcement during a presentation at the North American International Auto Show Press Preview in Detroit on January 10, 2011.

      Besides Kentucky, it is not yet known where the other Ford jobs will be located. Ford executives have yet to reveal this information, but what has been revealed are more promising details about where the company, and the auto industry, are headed.

      Ford’s domestic sales increased 15 percent in 2010, and its market share grew for the second consecutive year, an achievement it had not experienced since 1993.

      Jeff Schuster, an analyst with J. D. Power & Associates, has projected sales would rise to 12.8 million vehicles in 2011 and 15 million in 2012, from 11.6 million last year. Ford and General Motors said last week that they expected industrywide sales this year of up to 13.5 million.

      The hiring would give Ford nearly as many hourly workers in the United States as G.M., which also made drastic cuts in recent years and now has 53,000.

      Both Ford and G.M. earned large profits in 2010, largely because of cutting labor costs and other expenses. Through the first three quarters, earnings were $6.4 billion at Ford and $4.2 billion at G.M. Neither has revealed their financial results for the fourth quarter.

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      Evan Says Fed Missing Employment Goal

      January 8, 2011 /

      Unemployed_Empty_Pocket

      Although the healthcare career field is experiencing explosive growth as well as other career fields such as engineering, accounting, and customer service, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President, Charles Evans, says:

      The central bank is falling short of its mandate for full employment and he hasn’t decided whether its $600 billion Treasury-purchase program should be expanded. We’re monitoring the economy and inflationary pressures, and so I’m keeping an open mind about the $600 billion and beyond that, the hurdle is pretty high for adjusting the program.

      On a positive note, Evans says inflation probably won’t rise for a few years and “long-term interest rates appear to reflect improving financial and economic conditions.”

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

      Software Engineers Still on Top

      January 5, 2011 /

      Software Engineering

      This might not come as a surprise to tech-savvy souls and high-level professionals, but for the rest of the folks out there, this is news you might want to share with anyone you know that’s college-bound or interested in making a serious career change. Software engineers hold the number one spot on the list of the 200 best and worst jobs in America, according to CareerCast.com.

      In 2011, thanks to the popularity of smartphone applications and “cloud” based software, technical positions involving computers have risen to the top of the rankings. Indeed, Software Engineer, Computer Systems Analyst, Technical Writer and Computer Programmer all rank within the top 30 this year, although the Outlook for Computer Programmer is considerably worse due to outsourcing.

      Using information obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and trade association studies, CareerCast assessed physical demands, work environment, income, outlook, and stress. Although software engineers are not the highest paid on the list – that title goes to mathematicians ($94,178 per year), this career ranked highest overall based on the five criteria.

      Other careers on the top ten list include mathematician (#2), actuary (#3), statistician (#4), computer systems analyst (#5), meteorologist (#6), biologist (#7), historian (#8), audiologist (#9), and dental hygienist (#10).

      CareerCast’s Jobs Rated 2011 list consists of 200 jobs from best to worst. Teachers are right in the middle at #100, and at the bottom of the list are stevedores (#190), construction workers (#191), meter reader (#192), painter (#193), welder (#194), emergency medical technicians (#195), taxi drivers (#196), roofers (#197), lumberjacks (#198), iron workers (#199), and roustabouts (#200).  

      For the full Jobs Rated 2011: Ranking 200 Jobs From Best to Worst list, visit CareerCast.com.

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

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