The "New Normal"

[dilettante]

Well I see eWeek is firmly in the pockets of the "bosses." By this I mean the international conspiracy to depress the price of IT labor by any means possible.

This week they have an unsigned editorial:

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1185272,00.asp

This brief piece even has the 'nads to conclude with the statement "Those willing to work will find more than enough to make the journey worthwhile." Is it just me, or does this come across as offensive to others in the field?

The funny thing is, elsewhere in the same issue they bemoan the reduction in enrollment toward computer-related degrees.

I'm not sure what I am asking for reactions to here. Our situation is reminiscent of the behavior of the robber-barons of old prior to events such as Chicago Haymarket in 1886. For the historically challenged here's one link to help get up to speed:

http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/haymarket.htm

I've been amazed by how many young people today have the idea that fair labor movements started in the early decades of the 20th Century. I suppose we have our educational system to thank for this, perhaps due to the way textbooks are controlled here in the U.S. PBS recently did us a service by providing a little perspective on the subject, here's a link to materials from their production too:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/chicago/sfeature/sf_haymarket.html

But all that aside, I think my prime motivation in starting this thread was to ask your thoughts on the state of "computer journalism" today. Publications like the one cited here have moved from being a resource for various stripes of IT workers to perhaps little more than propaganda podiums pandering to the prejudices of highly-placed non-IT people. You know, the modern "IT decision maker" who is often actually an accounting or legal type.

I wonder how the tune will differ when these Mac-toting "computer journalists" lose their SAABs and BMWs as their own jobs get sent to the third world.

But anyway... what's your reaction to the opinion piece at eWeek?

 

[dilettante]

Here's another from the same publication. This one is at least signed (by Lisa Vaas).

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1010440,00.asp

On the surface it appears much more sympathetic to the plight of domestic IT workers. But the image it portrays of unemployed IT people standing at the back door hat in hand hoping for a crust of bread is disturbing.

Image is everything when you're selling yourself. I'm not sure images like this help the case of those seeking IT employment.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Interesting reading, bu I don’t know. I did not find the op-ed overly offensive. My interpretation of ”Those willing to work will find more than enough to make the journey worthwhile.” was that of a career journey rather than moving overseas. (Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking).

I see the ghostwriter as saying that even though the economy may have bottomed out and is on the upswing, IT still lags behind. The IT world is evolving and not really sure what or how next IT model is going to be shaped, and as the evolution continues, the global IT market will in time balance out through normal supply and demand forces. The statement ”IT workers must shift their focus to skills that are in demand, rather than compete with offshore commodity providers.” could be taken two ways. Firstly, (s)he could be saying, don’t fight the offshore movement, join it, or (and the interpretation I prefer), recognize what types of jobs are going overseas and don’t try to compete with that, rather, develop the necessary skills and focus on the areas that are not going overseas. Here education becomes a key parameter in the equation, as these skills will not be in the areas of rote programming or on that same level. New and different technologies will come into play, and those who position themselves to adapt and to apply these new skills and technologies will move to the head of the class. The industry is evolving, and not sure just where it may end up, but it could be a fun ride with payoffs at the end for those who work with it – getting educated, staying educated, and working to bring these types of new and probably more advanced skills and technologies to bear in the IT workplace.

As far as the status of journalism, gloom and doom sells. As far as the specific cases cited, I consider them to more of the same type of hyperbole that is often used to rally people around some issue, making it seem far worse than is actually is. That’s the easiest way to motivate people – sell the bad news, FUD, gloom and doom, and so forth. That being said, I have not doubt that some IT professionals have been looking for jobs over long periods of time, because it is a tough market. As a case in point, consider the number of resumes Janjua receives on a daily basis. But you are absolutely right, it does portray IT, and some of its people, in a not too favorable light, but look around you. Let’s be honest with ourselves, look at the skills and talents of those who profess themselves to be IT professionals, not focusing on any one or two individuals, but rather the overall state of talent, skills, and professionalism within the industry.. We are carrying a large tonnage of dead weight at all levels. I don’t think we as an industry are doing a great job of representing ourselves as true professionals. We have an overabundance of quantity without a lot of quality.

And to bring it back to the original article, perhaps (s)he is trying to say that even though IT is in the poor shape right now, the answer may not be in trying to recover IT, but rather to re-invent IT. Certainly not a repeat of the DotCom fiasco (don’t even want to go there), but rather as a better, more fundamentally sound, business IT model with more practical and symbiotic uses of new technologies, with people educated and trained on how to utilize the tools. Embarking down that path may well just be a worthwhile journey.

Then again tomorrow, I may not feel so optimistic.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[dkediger]

I believe Cajun hits it exactly in his last statement about reinventing IT rather than recovering. That is exactly my experience in my present position - I need/am required to assume more of a business and management position to keep IT resources a viable and differentiating aspect of my company.

The pendulum in the '90s had swung far to the position of autonomous IT departments as the advances of the Internet, reliable "small server" infrastructures, and even Y2K were absorbed. These major issues pretty much reached an equilibrium where "nothing is new" as with the Internet and infrastructures, or simply went away as with Y2K - resulting in the present "dust bowl."

IT at the present is pretty much at a given, stable position, with little occurring in advancements that would spur what happened last decade. In fact, I really don't foresee a return to that type of environment - within a generation or two. Developments that are occurring now are focused too narrowly to have broad applications. Ubiquitous wireless broadband will probably be the only real technology kick that could jumpstart something similar to the past.

 

[strongm]

>gloom and doom sells

As Neil Simon said in California Suite "for a dollar a copy, who the hell wants to read about happiness?"