Deb Perelman

Though IT employment is at an all-time high in the U.S.–some 3.8 million employed residents in the U.S. consider themselves IT professionals according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, a record high–and is expected to climb even higher–computer and mathematical sciences jobs expected to grow faster than any other professional occupation through 2016, nearly a […]

In the first half of 2006, the Programmers Guild, an IT worker interest group, filed 300 discrimination complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice against employers who had posted “H-1B visa holders only” ads on job boards. Two years later, it appears that in at least one case, the group’s work has paid off. The […]

The stereotypical image of a technology company entrepreneur is young, scrappy and brilliant, a la Bill Gates in 1982, Steve Jobs in 1984 or, say, Mark Zuckerberg in 2007. They’re almost always Ivy League dropouts. Yet how accurate is this? A new study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and researchers at Duke and Harvard […]

There was a time when telecommuting was seen as a panacea. The proliferation of wireless technology had made it easier for workers in countless arenas to work from their living rooms or the coffee shop of their choice, leading waves of companies to embrace partial or total remote work policies for their masses. It seemed […]

IBM IT workers planned a demonstration during the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday to protest changes in compensation structure that amount to a 15 percent pay cut for many employees. In January of this year, IBM informed 7,600 employees in technical positions that their jobs were being reclassified to make them eligible for overtime. […]

Statistically, men make more money than women do for doing the same job. It’s called the “wage gap” and it is considered one of the last bastions of gender inequality in the workplace. The wage gap hit its all-time low in 1973, when women could be expected to earn 56.6 percent of what a man […]

As Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer continues to obsess over buying Yahoo, Yahoo’s Jerry Yang might have an unlikely ally in his desire to stop the deal in its tracks: Microsoft employees. A Wall Street Journal article today, April 24, reports that some Microsoft rank-and-file workers say they’re skeptical about the deal. Their unrest is focused […]

Several recent reports have painted a depressing view of the condition of the American worker, and indicate that the nation may well be on the verge of a recession, if not already in one. Though unemployment only rose modestly in March–from 4.8 to 5.1 percent–the quality of work those still employed are able to get […]

What makes IT professionals happy? According to a survey released April 23 by Robert Half Technology, an IT recruiting firm, the answer is really not that complicated: money. CIOs identified increased compensation as the most effective way to retain IT staff, cited by 27 percent of respondents. Yet not far behind–at 21 percent–CIOs also knew […]

“Platform,” “Megs and rams,” “FTP,” “Scalable solution” … Jargon shows up in all professions, but in few is it more apparent, or more divisive, than in the world of technology. Picture this. You’re in the middle of a presentation to a business team about some technology it would behoove the company to invest in and […]