Want to land a good job?
Know computers!

By Sumit Chakraberty 

There are a number of good reasons why people need to know computers today. Not only is the IT market picking up once again, creating a major opportunity for specialized jobs in the software, services and ITES sectors, the overall industry is also demanding personnel conversant with computers. The Appointments columns of most leading news dailies are packed with advertisements that specifically ask for “computer familiarization, knowledge of MS Office and other popular computer programs” alongside other, necessary skill sets. Most organizations presume computer literacy as a necessary ingredient of staff profile. 

The IT industry meanwhile is also back on its road to recovery, which translates into enhanced hiring and more employment. A number of recent analyst reports are pointing in this direction. US-based business intelligence firm, Forrester Research says IT spending is picking up. Led by consumer services and retail industries, large firms expect IT spending to rise by an average of 2.3 percent this year, according to Forrester analysts. Increasing IT budget spends will catalyze the growth of the ICT industry.

Apart from companies increasing their spending on hardware and software, the Forrester report also predicts strong consumer spending in the high-tech area, pointing to the growing number of people opting for online banking and other services. 

More spending by companies and consumers means the worst is over for the IT industry, and a brighter year ahead for IT company revenues and consequently IT jobs. But the real pick-up will come when the overall economy recovers. This will happen in 2003 when economic growth will drive a tech recovery, according to the Forrester study.

In the US market, every percentage point rise in GDP leads to almost a ten percent rise in the IT sector's growth. In other words, a tech recovery is not just dependent on an economic recovery, it is also a magnified version of that recovery. 

Good corporate revenue news for the last quarter bolsters those expectations. IT leaders such as Microsoft in the US and Infosys in India have lived up to analysts predications by showing healthy growth. With the worst of the Internet shakeout behind it, the global ICT industry is getting back on the rails. The companies that have survived the dot com bubble burst, thanks to their robust business models, are laying the groundwork for the next wave of the Internet revolution. Stabilization of the dot com sector will contribute to the overall health of the IT industry and improve the prospects for employment.

Hiring Mood 
One of the most interesting indicators of a recovery in employment comes from the Small Business Optimism Index. The Temple University in Philadelphia compiles this index for the National Federation of Independent Business in the US. The latest index shows small businesses in the US are in a hiring mood. That is a powerful indicator considering that small business is the biggest employer in the US, including the tech sector. 

The feeling among analysts is that the huge dropoff has stopped and the market is stabilizing.
In India too, there are more IT jobs on offer now, than around the same time last year. While there were 5100 new jobs in the software sector in the first quarter of 2002, by August that number had swelled to 18,800 jobs, according to a recent survey. These numbers are expected to be significantly higher for 2003 as the demand for technology picks up after the recession. 

Therefore the job market—both  in the IT and non-IT domains—is growing from luke warm to hot and by the end of 2003, computer-related jobs are expected to be back with a bang.

(Sumit Chakraberty is an independent technology writer - schakraberty@yahoo.com ) 

ENDS