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ITerations
Preserving the IT workforce during times of economic contraction
By Dr. Steve Arnold, Practice Director, Information Technology
The IT workforce is under unprecedented pressure just as demands on it are peaking. Simple demographics is producing complex challenges. On the one hand, baby boomers are at or approaching retirement age. This forebodes massive turnover in the next few years. But on the other hand, boomers are delaying retirement because of the economic turmoil. This clogs the career paths of Gen Xers, the next generational cohort, and caps the demand for job shifts — all of which makes younger IT workers grumpy and discontent.
| Dennis Winters of the WI Department of Workforce Development gave a presentation rich with statistical analysis on the State's workforce and economic projections. |
War for talent is coming. Yes, these times have seemed akin to a war on talent, as slashed budgets have resulted in stacks of pink slips. But this is likely changing. Recent economic news contains signs of a turn: reduced unemployment, surprisingly low jobless claims, workers being given more hours, temp employment on the rise.
In the Dec. 3 IT Executives Roundtable, we looked in-depth at this crucial long-term question being affected by short-term conditions: How do preserve and plan for workforce retention — even during times of economic contraction?
We discussed many potential strategies: workforce planning, on-boarding investments, results-only work environment, generation-sensitive work norms, social-media recruiting and other ideas. What's more, Dennis Winters of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development gave an excellent presentation rich with statistical analysis on the State's workforce and economic-effect projections.
This is content you don't want to miss. If you're with a UWEBC member company, you can view it in its entirety, either as rich-media Mediasite presentations or as PDFs of the presentation slides. And here's to a productive and growing 2010 for all of our organizations!
Steve is Practice Director of the UWEBC's Information Technology focus area. He earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University and has provided IT consulting to many companies in multiple industries for nearly three decades. You can reach him at 608-890-1291 or slarnold@wisc.edu.
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