Deborah Rothberg

Microsoft hinted the week of May 15 that it will be forced to move more jobs abroad if the U.S. government doesnt raise the cap on H-1B visas. The Senate resumed session May 15 to debate the Immigration Reform Bill, which makes a provision to nearly double the number of allotted H-1B visas available annually […]

While summer is almost upon us, theres never a worry over good or bad weather when it comes to clients heading out for some Web surfing. And what better place than the office to check out some sites? But for IT managers acting as life guards on the corporate beach, enforcing network health and safety […]

Seventy-five percent of the college participants in IBMs “Master the Mainframe” competition, which ended Dec. 31, 2005, had never logged onto a mainframe before the challenge, an ominous sign of the drain in relevant technicians to come. “The contest we put together was primarily to address the skills shortage and get this information out. We […]

A poster on Ask Slashdot on May 8 requested advice on how to reduce or turn down requests for technical support requests, especially from users who arent necessarily clients. /zimages/5/28571.gifClick here to read more about the conflicts and miscommunications that can arise between users and IT help providers. The resulting responses—421 and counting—responses ranged from […]

Certification: Worth the paper Its Printed On? A study released April 25 found that for the first time since 2000, bonuses paid for certifications have slacked off compared with those paid for skills. The Q1 2006 Hot Technical Skills and Certifications Pay Index from Foote Partners, a New Canaan, Conn., IT compensation and work force […]

The Government Accountability Office released a study May 3 which found that the proportion of postsecondary students obtaining degrees in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields has fallen significantly. While 32 percent of postsecondary students obtained degrees in STEM fields in 1994 and 1995, the percentage fell to 27 percent in 2003 and 2004. […]

Today, just about everyone telecommutes from time to time, bouncing between the office cubicle and the dining room table. But what would work be like if you had no corporate office to go into? A growing number of companies are taking this route, forgoing a stable office location—with its face-to-face interactions—for what some may see […]

Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York top the list of highest-paying metropolitan areas for technology professionals, according findings of a report issued May 3 by Dice, an online resource for technology professionals. Taking in factors including geography, skills, job demand and salaries, the Dice Report finds that the tech job market “continues to thrive” as […]

A recent research report by Foote Partners, a New Canaan, Conn.-based management consultancy firm, found that noncertified IT skills have been growing in value at a rate nearly two times that of certified skills. A new follow-up report looks at what happens next to vendors who rely on their certifications programs to gain mind share […]

Telecommunications sector job cuts fell almost 30 percent in the first four months of 2006, from 37,118 to 26,418, according to data released May 2 by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement consultancy. A total of 315,566 jobs have been lost since January, down 8.5 percent from the same four-month period in 2005. April […]