Ready or not, Utah, here it comes.
It's a westward-moving wave, Utah Information Technology Association President Richard Nelson said, one that threatens to pummel the state's education system and the economy if it isn't addressed.The Information Technology Association of America on Monday released the results of a study, revealing the increasing demand for Information Technology (IT) workers in America. Employers will try to fill 1.6 million new IT jobs this year, the study found, and the Western region will call for 28 percent of them.
"There is a shortage of skilled employees," Nelson said. "It has become much more severe, just in the last 12 months, and will impact all sectors of the Utah economy. It's not going to get any less."
Students are flocking to computer science programs at colleges, universities and technical training schools at a rate many institutions are unable to accommodate. Students are drawn by demand, opportunity and -- of course -- money. But too many are turned aside because there is no room and are too few resources.
"Clearly the need is there," said Robert Kessler, head of the computer science department at the University of Utah. "The economy is changing from an industrial economy to an information economy. So, people who are trained in (IT) are definitely going to be first in line as society moves into this new world."
Kessler said so many people are clamoring to get into the field that the university finally committed to expanding the department.
Overcrowding has also been a problem at many of Utah's specialized computer training centers.
Shelly Kaufman, human resources director at Advanced Technical Center in Salt Lake City, said there were only two similar schools in the Salt Lake area when ATC began in 1996. Since then, she said, "We've just seen the market explode."
In that time, terms like e-commerce and B2B have taken on meaning within the wider business community. It is now not uncommon for the smallest businesses to deal with their suppliers through extranets and handle customers' orders online.
So, too, the call for new IT specialists in 2000 will not be limited to dot-coms or other techno-firms. In fact, the ITAA found the greatest need for IT workers is in the smaller, non-IT businesses. Companies with 50-99 employees will need 1 million IT workers this year, the survey stated.
Hot jobs identified by ITAA include tech support and troubleshooting, hardware/software installation and systems operations, monitoring and maintenance. Managers queried in the study preferred workers educated at four-year colleges or universities or at private technical training institutes.
There is a difference in the education students will receive, Utah educators say. Kessler said a university education focuses on fundamentals -- problem-solving, critical thinking, mathematics -- while private technical institutes are tailored to fit a specific need.
Kaufman said ATC encourages people to get a college education coupled with the certification her school offers to be "optimally employable." And ATC is working to form more partnerships like the one it has with Westminster College, where certification courses are offered as a part of the college curriculum.
Whichever path students choose, Nelson said there will likely be a market for them.
"There is a huge bottleneck right now, and we need to work in an absolute lockstep fashion to try to keep up," he said. "I believe Utah has an edge, but we have to commit ourselves to seeking out the finest, brightest students at the leading edge. Because the changes will not stop. If anything, they will accelerate even more."