02-20-2004, 12:27 AM
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#24 (permalink)
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Apocalypse Nerd
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Quote:
A Survey of Information Technology Workers
In December 2003, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech) commissioned a national
survey of technology workers. The purpose of the survey was to quantitatively measure the opinions of U.S.
technology workers on a variety of issues, including free trade, future information technology (IT) job
demand, legislative action, party affiliation and voting behavior.
The results challenge conventional wisdom about independent IT workers who cannot be galvanized
around any one set of issues to seek political change. In fact, IT workers appear to be an emerging political
constituency that is increasingly looking for political action to address its economic concerns.
This report outlines the key findings from the survey.
Who Are IT Workers?
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Just who are these IT workers? IT workers are an experienced and highly educated group. Based on the
results of the survey, 70% of respondents said they had five or more years of experience working in an ITrelated
job and 68% had a college degree or higher. They include software developers, data processors,
technical writers and more.
Most are direct, full time employees, though nearly one in five is an independent contractor, speaking to the
ingenuity and energy that characterizes this group of workers.
What Are the Issues?
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IT workers face a host of challenges, among them an increase in the practice of off shoring and gaps
in training.
There is overwhelming concern about high-tech job flight
Nearly all respondents (93%) were aware of off shoring and expressed concern about its impact on
the industry
Close to one in four IT workers said his or her company had off shored jobs
Even more incredibly, almost one in five had lost a job or knew someone who had lost a job after
training a foreign worker
IT workers believe globalization will lower wages and benefits
The majority of respondents indicated that off shoring has impacted wages and benefits
56% of these respondents said the trend has put downward pressure on wages and benefits
One third of survey respondents cited a decrease in job stability as a result of off shoring
53% of these respondents felt that off shoring created a less stable U.S. job market or resulted in
cuts and lay offs
The jobs most often off shored included programming/data processing, tech support, customer
service, software/systems developer and database design/development
Companies are not investing in employees
64% of IT workers said their employers do not offer adequate training on the latest technologies
and programming languages
Whats more, 87% questioned whether they had the time, money and resources to independently
obtain needed training
A strong majority of IT workers believed that demand for highly educated workers will increase in
the future and that specialized training will be critical to success in the industry
Perhaps incongruently, however, 42% said demand at their company would stay the same, and
16% said demand at their company would decrease
High-Tech Workers Demand a Political Response to Off Shoring
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More than two thirds (69%) of respondents supported legislation that would require customer
service representatives to identify the city and country in which they are located
An overwhelming majority (84%) also supported legislation to enhance unemployment benefits to
workers whose jobs had been off shored
Nearly three quarters (73%) did not think there is a need for the H1-B program, which enables
companies to bring in foreign professionals to fill jobs in the event that American labor cannot be
found, and 81% supported legislation to place restrictions on the program
In a similar vein, 86% of respondents supported legislation requiring government IT-contract work to
be performed by U.S. workers and 71% supported legislation requiring companies to inform local
officials if they plan to use U.S. workers to train foreign replacements
An Emerging Constituency
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IT workers are just beginning to self-identify as a group with common interests. While IT workers are far
from homogeneous, their influence as a constituency can only grow stronger.
IT workers are well educated and have financial means
68% have a college degree or higher
54% are between the ages of 18 and 44
49% have yearly salaries between $75,000 and $125,000
IT workers are found all across the ideological spectrum
26% identified themselves as Democrats
32% identified themselves as Independent
41% identified themselves as Republican
IT workers vote
The vast majority (91%) of IT workers are registered to vote
87% said they vote in most or every election
About This Survey
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In December 2003, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech) commissioned a
410-respondent national Web survey of technology workers. The survey was conducted by The
Evans/McDonough Company. The survey was checked to ensure proportional representation of technology
workers geographically and demographically in the United States, using U.S. Bureau and Labor Statistics
reports, U.S. Census information, and prior research on technology workers available to the public.
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http://www.washtech.org/wt/report/WashTech_Survey.pdf |
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