Solutions and Strategies for IT Recruitment and Retention: A Manager's Guide

Abstract

There is some debate as to exactly how big the IT talent gap is in America. Information varies according to the source and time of individual reports. A 1998 report by the Information Technology Association of America estimated the gap at 190,000 unfilled core information technology positions.¹ Just two years later, however, that same organization predicted that there would be demand for 1.6 million general (as opposed to core) IT workers in the United States in the year 2000 and that half of those positions would go unfilled. This study estimates the gap at 843,328 unfilled information technology positions.² Recent economic trends have invalidated these early predictions and demand has gone down considerably. But the unstable nature of IT demand simply creates more problems. How does a public sector manager maintain a system that is flexible enough to move with market forces?