Offshoring creates more IT jobs in the US
IT: Information technology jobs will continue to grow in the US
because of globalisation and offshoring, according to a new report.
Belying the common belief that shifting IT jobs to countries like India
is a threat to workers in the US, the report states that IT job
opportunities will grow in America because cost savings achieved by
outsourcing will help fuel new business opportunities.
This in turn will result in creating new jobs at those organisations,
according to a study by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a
professional development organisation that includes academic, government
and industry officials from the information technology field.
The study, entitled 'Globalisation and Offshoring of Software' cites
estimates that between two to three per cent of IT jobs will be lost
annually to lower-wage developing countries through offshoring.
But it said the US IT sector's overall growth should outpace that
loss of jobs, expanding opportunities for those trained in fields such
as software architecture, product design, project management and IT
consulting.
Citing US Bureau of Labour Statistics(BLS) data, the study points out
that despite a significant increase in offshoring in the past five
years, more IT jobs are available today in the US than at the height of
the dotcom boom.
In fact, IT employment in the US in 2004 was 17 per cent higher than
in 1999, and IT jobs are predicted to be among the fastest-growing
occupations over the next decade.
And even with greater globalisation, the report notes that the lower
wage scales in India and China are not pushing down pay for US IT
workers. PTI |