Growth in the IT Workforce
Growth in the IT Workforce
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the professional-level IT workforce will increase over 30 percent from 2004 and 2014. That is significantly higher than the 13 percent increase expected in the overall workforce in the same period.
The professional-level IT workforce includes technology and computer science jobs such as computer and information systems managers, computer hardware engineers and computer specialists. According to the BLS, the category of computer specialists includes:
- Computer and information research scientists
- Computer programmers
- Computer software engineers
- Computer support specialists
- Computer systems analysts
- Database administrators
- Network systems and data analysts
- Other computer specialists
In 2004, there were just over 3.4 million IT professionals out of the total workforce of nearly 146 million. By 2014, the total workforce is projected to be nearly 165 million with 4.44 million of those considered IT professionals.
The specific IT jobs which are projected to have the biggest increase are network systems and data analysts (54.6 percent) and computer software engineers (46.1 percent). The IT professions expected to have the least increase are computer programmers (2 percent) and computer hardware engineers (10.1 percent).
IT and computer science professionals should analyze these workforce trends to be aware of which types of jobs are expected to increase the most in the near future.