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Showing posts with label computer jobs florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computer jobs florida. Show all posts
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
The High-Paying, Creative Career That Desperately Needs You
In the U.S. alone, 150,000 computing jobs open up each year, according to the New York Times. But fewer than 40,000 American grads earn bachelor’s degrees in computer science.
What does this mean? North America is simply not producing enough computer science grads to fill industry needs — not by a long shot. In today’s tough job climate, it’s a paradoxical situation.
This dearth of technical talent has led to an international feeding frenzy on qualified developers and software engineers. Silicon Valley is wooing new grads with six-figure salaries. Demand is so high that big tech companies have taken to lobbying for looser immigration rules in order to tap into additional overseas talent. This spring, Mark Zuckerberg and executives from Google, Yahoo and LinkedIn joined forces as FWD.us to push for comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S.
Yet, this doesn’t get at the root of the problem. Importing foreign engineers may offer a temporary fix, but it does little to nurture a homegrown and enduring tech scene. A lasting solution has to start in high schools, colleges and universities. North American students need to be exposed to formal computer education early and to understand the kinds of fulfilling career opportunities that tech offers.
Right now, that’s not happening. In the U.S. for example, colleges and universities continue to train young people for jobs that simply aren’t in demand. Youth unemployment hovers at an abysmal 16%—double the country’s overall unemployment rate. Hundreds of thousands of recent university grads are unemployed or underemployed. Last year it was reported that 60 percent of college grads were unable to find work in their chosen field.
Meanwhile, companies are struggling to fill entry-level engineer and developer positions. In a climate of global recession, well-paid tech jobs are sitting vacant. Something is deeply wrong with that picture.
This training gap isn’t just a handicap for the tech industry. Without workers with the right skills, the nation as a whole can’t remain competitive.
What we need is a better way to connect eager, talented students with the kinds of jobs that provide stable and rewarding careers. I’m a hacker at heart — confident that enough hustle, ingenuity and late nights can fix almost any problem. There has to be a solution out there for this one.
Reaching high school students with career guidance before they get to university seems a logical first step. Considering where the contemporary economy is headed, it’s time we launched a renewed push in secondary schools toward science and math fields. In particular, students need to see that computer science is relevant, rewarding financially and even fun. This may require getting a little creative. Microsoft engineers in Seattle, for example, recently began teaching high school classes on a volunteer basis, offering instruction to students who might not otherwise have access to computer science courses.
At the university level, we need more connections between industry and academia. The formula has proven highly effective in Silicon Valley itself. At Stanford, executives from Google, Intel, YouTube and other leading companies sit in on classes and serve as mentors for aspiring developers and entrepreneurs. In an effort to do our part, my company has recently developed a program that provides real-world educators with free resources they can use to teach students some of the digital skills needed in today’s workforce. These “Professor’s Toolkits,” consisting of assigned readings, videos, assignments, and projects, are currently being used by hundreds of institutions globally, including the Columbia School of Journalism and NYU Stern School of Business. Educators building bridges with industry creates a critical feedback loop. Students get real-time perspective on what jobs are in demand. They learn the skills needed for contemporary careers. And they cultivate relationships with forward-looking companies for after graduation.
Finally, it’s up to us tech people to do a better job correcting outdated stereotypes of software engineering as tedious, mechanical work. Engineering done right is a highly creative pursuit—one that rewards inventiveness, playfulness and experimentation. Developers and engineers are as much a part of today’s creative class as artists, musicians and writers. Not to mention that tech is sexier and more visible than ever–Smartphones, tablets and social media have brought computing into the limelight. It shouldn’t be hard to sell people on careers that shape one of the most central aspects of our lives.
I’ll admit that I do have a vested interest in all of this. I want to make my city Vancouver into a real Silicon Valley North. The new Facebook office that opened up here this year will have come and gone in a year’s time, but I’m here for the long haul. My colleagues and I want to grow our social media platform, HootSuite, into a billion-dollar company right here in Vancouver, then go on to fund a whole new generation of tech ventures in the city. We’ll have the capital and the experience to make a real run at turning Vancouver into a legitimate high-tech center.
But without homegrown talent, it’s never going to happen—neither here or anywhere else in North America. High schools and colleges need to funnel students into engineering programs now and send the message that the jobs of tomorrow are in tech. Rewarding, creative jobs with great compensation and long-term prospects are waiting to be filled. Isn’t it time we nurtured some of the talent in our own backyard and steered the next generation to tech?
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Friday, August 16, 2013
Tech Workers gain confidence as employment prospects lift - NetWorkWorld
IT workers more optimistic in Q2, job hunters feeling confident
Network World - Confidence levels among IT workers improved in the second quarter, buoyed by reports of employment gains in the U.S. tech sector.
The IT Employee Confidence Index, created by technology talent and solutions provider Randstad Technologies, increased five points from the previous quarter to 53.6 points. Tech workers’ overall confidence had dipped to a 12-month low in the first quarter, hitting 48.6 on Randstad’s scale. Tech workers are particularly optimistic about their employability. Forty-seven percent of IT workers said they feel confident in their ability to find a new job -- a gain of nine percentage points compared to 38% in Q1.
[[HIRING: 10 reasons for IT job-hunters to be optimistic]]
[[2013 JOB WATCH: Top 11 metro areas for tech jobs]]
When asked about the economy, 30% of IT workers said they believe the economy is getting stronger (up from 27% last quarter), while 39% said the economy is getting weaker (down from 46% in Q1).
“Given the demand for IT talent, we are not surprised to see an increase in confidence numbers. Information technology teams continue to support organizations in unprecedented ways, and leadership is scrambling to find talent to address important priorities,” said Bob Dickey, executive vice president of technologies at Randstad US, in a statement.
Among the in-demand tech skills Dickey singled out are: Java, data architecture, SOA, and experience with SuccessFactors, Microsoft Dynamics, SQL Server, SAP HANA and Workday.
Yet despite greater signs of optimism about the workplace and the economy, IT workers’ confidence trails the national index, which measures U.S. workers’ attitudes across a range of industries. The national Randstad index hit 56.3 in July.
Some IT employees remain leery about the security of their current position; 25% say it’s likely they'll lose their current job in the next 12 months (58% say it’s not likely).
“While we are seeing some improvement in confidence and in the desire to find a new job, IT workers are often in precarious situations within organizations, working on temporary projects or jumping in to fix problems,” Dickey said. “As a result, employees may be feeling a level of insecurity around that.”
Meanwhile, Foote Partners’ analysis of July's employment numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals a net gain of 18,400 jobs across four IT-related job segments. In a single category -- Data Processing, Hosting and Related Services” -- 3,600 jobs were created in the month of July, marking the single best month of job growth in this category since June 1998.
In the big picture, the rate of growth of IT employment continues to accelerate, says TechServe Alliance, a collaboration of IT and engineering businesses. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment has grown by 5.71% since June 2012, adding almost 241,700 IT workers, the alliance reports.
Separately, Dice.com surveyed 1,000 hiring managers and recruiters, and 73% said they plan to hire more technology pros during the second half of 2013 than they did during the year’s first six months. The IT careers specialist also notes the number of job postings on its site that mention the word “cloud” hit an all-time high this month, topping 5,000 -- which is up 32% compared to a year ago.
“There’s an upswing in cloud services and cloud technology-related job opportunities,” says Shravan Goli, president of Dice.
Randstad’s study, which was conducted online by Harris Interactive in April, May and June, polled 203 technology industry employees.
Ann Bednarz covers IT careers, outsourcing and Internet culture for Network World. Follow Ann on Twitter at @annbednarz and reach her via email at abednarz@nww.com.
Read more about data center in Network World's Data Center section.
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