Contents

Title Page and Notice				i
National Academies Statement				iii
Committee				v
Preface				xi
Acknowledgment of Reviewers				xix
Executive Summary				1
1	The IT Sector: Context and Character			23
	1.1	The Trajectory of Information Technology		23
	1.2	As Goes IT, So Goes the IT Workforce		24
	1.3	Why Has Information Technology Captured So Much Attention?		28
		1.3.1	Flourishing of the IT Sector	29
		1.3.2	Rise of the High-Technology Sector	32
		1.3.3	Enabler of Broad Economic Change	35
		1.3.4	IT as a Policy Driver	38
	1.4	Why Assess IT Workforce Issues Now?		40
	1.5	Organization of This Report		42
2	Understanding the IT Workforce			44
	2.1	Who Is an IT Worker?		44
	2.2	The Nature of IT Work		47
		2.2.1	Category 1 Work	47
		2.2.2	Category 2 Work	49
		2.2.3	The Interaction Between Category 1 and Category 2 Work	49
		2.2.4	Category 1 and Category 2 Workers	51
	2.3	Intellectual and Knowledge Requirements		54
		2.3.1	Formal Education and Type of IT Work	54
		2.3.2	Core Knowledge and Abilities for IT Work	55
		2.3.3	The Role of Experience and Situated Learning and Knowledge	56
	2.4	Characterizing the IT Workforce		60
		2.4.1	Size of the IT Workforce	60
		2.4.2	Growth in the Category 1 IT Workforce	61
		2.4.3	Demographics of the Category 1 IT Workforce	66
		2.4.4	Compensation in the Category 1 IT Workforce	68
		2.4.5	Educational Background	79
		2.4.6	Distribution of Category 1 IT Workers by Size of Employer	83
		2.4.7	Unemployment of Category 1 IT Workers	84
		2.4.8	A Note About the Hardware Subsector Within Information Technology	84
		2.4.9	Characteristics of the Category 2 IT Workforce	85
	2.5	Recap		90
3	Characterizing the Workforce Problem			92
	3.1	Framing the Problem in Context		92
	3.2	Reports of Difficulty in Hiring		92
	3.3	The Inference of a Worker Shortage		97
		3.3.1	The Overall Labor Market	99
		3.3.2	The Size of the Applicant Pool	99
		3.3.3	Skills Shortages Versus Worker Shortages	102
		3.3.4	Compensation	102
		3.3.5	Time to Reach Equilibrium	107
	3.4	The Committee's View of the IT Labor Market		109
	3.5	Segmentation of Demand for IT Workers		110
	3.6	A Perspective on the Federal Government and Workforce Issues in IT		113
		3.6.1	Competition with the Private Sector	113
		3.6.2	Incentives	114
		3.6.3	Recruitment and Retention Issues	116
		3.6.4	Coping with Tightness	116
		3.6.5	Security	117
		3.6.6	Concerns Expressed by Government Contractors	118
	3.7	Projections for the Future		119
		3.7.1	The Relevant Time Horizons	119
		3.7.2	The Quantitative Outlook	120
		3.7.3	Skills for the Future	122
		3.7.4	Project-based Employment	123
		3.7.5	Reducing Relative Needs for Personnel Through Tools and Techniques for Greater Productivity	126
	3.8	Recap		131
4	Older IT Workers and Possible Age-Related Discrimination			135
	4.1	Introduction		135
	4.2	Legal Dimensions of Age Discrimination		136
		4.2.1	The Definition of Age Discrimination	136
		4.2.2	Legal Theories for Showing Age Discrimination	137
	4.3	The Empirical Evidence on the Labor Market Experiences of Older and Younger IT Workers		139
		4.3.1	Data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission	139
		4.3.2	Labor Market Survey Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics	140
		4.3.3	The AARP Audit Study	146
	4.4	Discussion		148
	4.5	Recap		149
5	Foreign Workers in the IT Workforce			152
	5.1	The Impact of Foreign Workers on the U.S. Economy and Workforce		152
	5.2	Foreign Workers in the United States		156
		5.2.1	Foreign Workers Overall	156
		5.2.2	Foreign Worker Programs	157
		5.2.3	Issues Regarding the Foreign Worker Programs	170
	5.3	Availability of Foreign IT Workers to U.S. Firms		177
		5.3.1	Competition for Foreign Workers	178
		5.3.2	Locating IT Work Abroad	179
	5.4	Interaction Between the Use of Foreign Workers and Locating Work Offshore		185
	5.5	Recap		186
6	Making More Effective Use of the Existing IT Workforce			188
	6.1	Attracting and Using IT Workers More Efficiently		188
		6.1.1	Increased Use of Overtime	189
		6.1.2	Improved Recruitment and Retention	194
		6.1.3	Making Clearer Distinctions Between Essential and Optional Attributes	199
	6.2	Expanding the Pool of Immediately Available Workers		201
		6.2.1	The Role of Assessment	201
		6.2.2	Targeting Underrepresented Groups for IT Careers	212
	6.3	Recap		216
7	Longer-Term Strategies for Increasing the Supply of Qualified Labor: Training and Education			220
	7.1	The Role of Formal Education		220
		7.1.1	Secondary Education	221
		7.1.2	Higher Education--Baccalaureate	228
		7.1.3	Higher Education--Postbaccalaureate	240
		7.1.4	Higher Education--Community Colleges	245
		7.1.5	Industry Certification	251
		7.1.6	Distance Learning	253
	7.2	Training IT Workers		254
		7.2.1	The Need for Lifelong Learning	254
		7.2.2	Disincentives for Employer-provided Formal Training	255
		7.2.3	Other Factors Affecting Training	257
		7.2.4	Support and Infrastructure for Training	258
		7.2.5	Training Opportunities in the Economy and in High Technology	260
		7.2.6	Training Realities	261
		7.2.7	Historical Experiences in Training	264
		7.2.8	Approaches to Shared Training	266
	7.3	Integrating Work and Learning		268
	7.4	Recap		270
8	Synthesis, Principles, and Recommendations			275
	8.1	Synthesis and Findings		275
		8.1.1	On the Available Data	278
		8.1.2	On the Nature of Business in the IT Sector (Chapter 3)	279
		8.1.3	On the Assessment of Talent (Chapter 6)	280
		8.1.4	On Education and Training (Chapter 7)	280
		8.1.5	On Age Discrimination (Chapter 4)	281
		8.1.6	On the Use of Foreign Labor (Chapter 5)	282
		8.1.7	On the Use of Temporary Foreign Nonimmigrant Labor (Chapter 5)	283
		8.1.8	On Workforce Needs in Biotechnology as a Point of Contrast and Comparison	283
	8.2	Principles for Action		284
	8.3	Recommendations		285
		8.3.1	For Employers of IT Workers	287
		8.3.2	For Educational Institutions	291
		8.3.3	For Individual Workers	296
		8.3.4	For Government Policymakers	297
		8.3.5	For the Federal Government as a Major User of IT	307
		8.3.6	For Joint Action	311
Appendixes
A	Biotechnology			317
B	Estimating the Size of the IT Workforce			331
C	Study Committee Biographies			344
D	Briefers to the Committee			351
Index				357

For every complex problem, there is a solution that is neat, simple, and wrong.

--H.L. Mencken