Don E. Sears

Companies Will Keep Doing More IT with Less Staff: Report

There are some unfortunate facts about the technology jobs picture right now, and while technology opportunities do exist, headcounts for IT in 2010 are not growing appreciably, according to research from technology analysts at Gartner. The Stamford, Conn.-based researchers found the rate of increase in headcount for the year is just over 6 percent, based […]

Hot Certified, Noncertified IT Skills: What You Need Now

Hot Certified, Noncertified IT Skills: What You Need Now by Don E. Sears #10 Noncertified SkillPython Python is an open-source, object-oriented programming language and has gained steam over the years with the rise of Web applications. According to its authors, Python is “a flexible powerhouse that can handle practically any problem domain. Build your own […]

IT Services Vendors Targets of State Fund Looting

Three suspects accused of a scheme to illegally transfer government funds out of West Virginia, Massachusetts, Kansas and Ohio to fake accounts of legitimate technology companies were sentenced Aug. 19, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report. The well-known enterprise technology services vendors included Deloitte Consulting, Unisys, Accenture and Electronic Data Systems, which is […]

IT Spending Will Rise, but So Will Employee Dissatisfaction

IT executives, along with finance and operations management, are more confident about investing and spending for the remainder of 2010, yet many business leaders believe growth and overall economic health is tenuous, according to a quarterly Conference Executive Board report of 440 executives. IT discretionary spending will rise in the third quarter, especially in software: […]

H-1B Visa Fee Increase Unpopular Across the Board

The measure to increase fees on H-1B visas that was attached to the $600 billion border security bill by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) passed both houses of Congress was signed in to law by the president on Aug. 13. What proponents and advocates on all sides of the debate have to ask themselves is whether […]

IT Spending Expected to Grow 6.5 Percent over Five Years: Report

Spending on technology products and services is forecasted to reach $629.3 billion by 2014, according to London-based researchers Business Monitor International, which covers 22 vertical industries. In a July 26 report, BMI forecasted IT spending for 2010 to reach $511.4 billion and to grow at a compound rate of 6.5 percent in five years. This […]

Job Searchers Want More Useful Dialogue with Employers

Workers want more than connection with friends when it comes to social media. Thirty-five percent of nearly 4,500 workers want social media efforts by companies to include more useful information such as job listings, according to a second quarter survey from Careerbuilder published Aug. 18. Roughly one-quarter of those polled would like more facts and […]

Larger Mix of Skill Sets the Future for IT Workers

Specialization can be a good thing in technology work, but it’s not necessarily the future, contends vendor-neutral, non-profit industry organization CompTIA, which has a major conference going on this week in San Antonio, Texas. Hybrid skills that combine on-the-job expertise along with training and industry-recognized certifications are necessary. With technology job growth expected to expand […]

Competition Is Mounting for Systems Engineering Skill Sets

Increases to project funding and investment in new technology initiatives are driving demand for technology skills this quarter, according to reports from IT staffing firms such as TEKsystems and analyses on IT spending from Forrester. An early August report from Hanover, Md.-based TEKsystems found that 59 percent of companies expect to have increasing project needs […]

Latin America: A Hotbed of IT Services

With all the talk of double-dip recessions and global downturns spreading across European and American markets, there are still pockets of the world where business is expanding with plenty of assistance from IT service companies, namely in Latin America. Despite some slowdown in 2009 in specific countries, IT infrastructure outsourcing services in Latin America grew […]