[Snowrunner]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('retiredguy', 'Y')ou must know some of the managers I used to work for!!

[outcast]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('galacticsurfer', 'h')ttp://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2799/computer-science-enrollment-is-down-by-half-since-2000
The latest Taulbee Survey—set to be published in full by May—says that in 2007, undergraduate enrollment in computer-science programs had fallen to half of what it was in 2000 (15,958 to 7,915, to be exact).
The comments under the article are much more interesting.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('retiredguy', 'Y')ou must know some of the managers I used to work for!!
Regarding programming. Custom programming of business apps was dying when I left the business and I doubt it is coming back anytime soon.
When I took a job in apps development at the UW, there were over 200 programmers. When I left, there were less than 60.
I spent the last fifteen years of my career as a systems programmer, and I still did a fair amount of coding, mostly in assembler and C.
Fortunately for me, I worked on systems that, for the most part were my own creation, and were vital to the business of the UW.
However, most of the young guys in my systems engineering group worked as system admins and did very little coding.
This was a depressing trend for a guy (me) who really liked to code.

[Falconoffury]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') hate to break it to you, but that's not really IT and why you would get or need a degree for doing what you do is a bit puzzeling.

[lowem]

I've always been in IT, R&D, applications development, Java/J2EE, that kind of thing. A few months back, some time before everything started melting down, I changed jobs from America's largest defence contractor to, um, the largest local one. I had another colleauge who, well, went over to Lehman Brothers.

I related this story over lunch yesterday. My boss said I was clever. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Business isn't too bad. I'm now handling almost more projects than I can keep track of. I think it's more of being a part of an extremely well informed community as compared to any kind of individual "cleverness".

If this proves to be the right decision in time to come, I'll have to thank the peakoiler and contrarian community for the collective strategic intelligence that we are gathering as we help each other to look ahead into the future. Our track record in this regard has been pretty superb, way ahead of the curve.

So, not to forget that if we're talking about IT, which sector are we talking about? It's worlds apart if we're talking about IT in finance, retail, logistics, or IT in government, military/defence, in education, healthcare, or such.

Take a look at the 10 sub-sectors of the S&P. You can be pretty sure that IT is used in all of them. If you're in IT, where do you want to be, which sectors would you avoid?

[Falconoffury]

Personally, I wouldn't want to work for the government. They are more or less my enemy (which you can guess by looking at my avatar). I would like to work for a business that manufactures precision tools or parts for various industrial things. Certain industries should hold up well in the long term such as railroads, mining, and wind power. Being part of IT for these companies should help me to learn more about how this manufacturing is done.

Definitely stay away from any business that is tightly involved in or dependent upon the building of commercial or residential structures.

[EndOfGrowth]

Merrill Lynch confirms IT job cuts

"Once upon a time IT smarties could have expected to walk out of one employer, and straight into the arms of another. However, with Lehmans casting thousands into the wilderness, and other top end finance firms handing out pink slips the omens are not good."

Link


Government computer jobs are axed

"HP had warned that the takeover would mean 24,000 jobs would go worldwide and have confirmed 3,378 will be in the UK. "

Link


Large job losses in the construction industry, now the auto industry and possibly the beginning of huge job cuts next in IT -IMO as everyone and his uncle have jumped on the bandwagon.

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Falconoffury', '
')Definitely stay away from any business that is tightly involved in or dependent upon the building of commercial or residential structures.

[lowem]

Citigroup chopping another 53,000. Fair bet that there're lots of IT guys in that sad group. Sigh.

[EndOfGrowth]

BT to cut 10,000 jobs by March 2009 affecting IT contractors and consultants

Link