uesday March 13 12:03 PM ET
Recruiters See Less Frantic Pace in Tech
Hiring
By Patrick Markey
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A year ago, with the Nasdaq composite index hitting
record highs, U.S. technology firms and Internet start-ups fought hard to
hire qualified candidates, and paid well to keep those they did.
High-tech firms even blamed the hiring crunch for holding back their
growth.
Those heady days are long gone.
On Tuesday, Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - news) became the latest U.S. technology titan to announce
lay-offs. The No. 2 mobile phone maker said it would cut 7,000 jobs, joining the chorus of similar
announcements from Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news), Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news),
Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE:NT - news)(Toronto:NT.TO - news) and Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU -
news)
Recruiting agencies and job placement experts say the bursting of the dot-com bubble and softening
economic climate have certainly dulled the frantic edge of tech sector hiring.
But, despite the recent slew of layoffs, the tech job base and hiring demand remain strong, especially for
the sector's more highly trained specialists, they said.
``The dot-coms were really dialing up the compensation for talent, making it a great market for tech talent,
and putting pressure on a lot of companies to fight for people,'' said John Challenger, Chief Executive of
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement company.
``Now that has been muted and we're not at that same fever pitch,'' he said. ``But companies have
invested a lot of capital in the last several years in technology; they need people to tap into it, to fix it, to
train others to use it.''
The current climate contrasts with last April, when a survey by the Information Technology Association of
America, a trade group, predicted a shortfall of almost 850,000 skilled workers in the information
technology sector.
The group has not released this year's job demand figures, but in talks with members, who include Intel
and Nortel, the association said, it found job cuts in the sector often left very skilled technology specialists
untouched.
Recruitment experts agree. Rather than a steep decline in hiring, they have witnessed a subtle shift as
technology firms feel less need to fight for candidates, and job seekers look toward more stable companies.
``It was that competition that was forcing clients to hire quickly, offer amazing salaries, and throw
everything in but the kitchen sink in the offers to get these people on board,'' said Beth Gilfeather, senior
vice president of TechieGold, an IT recruitment agency.
In the second quarter last year, 35 percent of TechieGold business concerned dot-coms. That figure is now
nearer 15 percent, the company said.
Career counselors at U.S. universities also paint a positive picture of on-campus hiring by tech companies.
On Monday, 14 technology companies visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (news - web sites)
and all were hiring, said Jackie Wilbur, an MBA career development officer.
While the college has not seen a slowdown in hiring, it is still too early to tell how technology firm
compensation packages would differ from last year, when much of the focus was on stock options, Wilbur
said.
At the University of Texas, which places 30 percent of its MBA candidates in technology companies,
graduates may just have to look a little harder, career advisors said.
``There has a been a gentle slowdown. Everyone I've talked to believes this is short term,'' said Jamie
King, an associate director of graduate career services at the University of Texas McCombs School of
Business.
``In fact, I have some companies that have just completed layoffs and as they were laying the people off
were saying 'Please don't look around too much. We expect to hire you back this summer.''' |
