Let’s look at a little history.
We could start in the cro-magnon of the technology era with the birth of the transistor, the birth of the CRT, the birth of the computer, or the birth of the Internet (by the way, Al Gore had nothing, zippo, nada to do with the birth of the intenet).
Instead, let’s fast forward to a more recent age. The internet is on the up-swing, IBM as a company had been suffering brutally at the failed OS2 operating systems market performance in light of strong handed exclusionary marketing tactics by MS. Like other manufacturers, IBM turns to overseas sources for production.
But that was only the beginning. They progressed over time to embrace the ‘International’ of the name to expand the business to allow non-US offices to take on more and more of the basic business production (programming, support, etc.). This allowed them to hire qualified people (albeit with potential language and cultural differences) to perform tasks that would replace the US worker that cost as much as ten times as much. And with the progesses in telecommunications and excess in bandwidth available across the globe, the process became a foundation of the business model.
Funny thing, they weren’t the only ones or the last. So, as corporations are pushing for high performance and lower overhead, US workers are not the prefered employee. They can hire someone anywhere on the planet.
What does this mean for the Future IT Techs of America? If you’re interested in IT, corporate IT is probably not the prime direction if you’re looking for upward growth, opportunity, income growth and a strong career.
Is IT dead? Not by a long shot. Local businesses will always need someone to walk in and provide the installation and on hands support to their offices. This is where the IT future is. Small shops and teams of people that can provide monthly installation, support, direction, administration and response.
But, with the excess exodus of IT pros on the streets either looking for new jobs or starting new businesses either in or out of the industry, you can bet that the competition is tough.
Get in with or start a small or medium sized organization for an opportunity at staying in touch with the real technology, the real customer and a career that can reward you on issues directly based on your productivity, rather than the desparate gasps of a US industry that is shrinking.
21 Buzzards 