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To: mchip who wrote (21962)	8/12/1998 8:05:00 AM
From: Brewmeister	Respond to of 31646

Mercer Survey: Y2K Expertise Interesting piece on personnel. I found their comment on post 2000 activity interesting as well Dan Consulting firms are deploying platoons of experts to help clients combat the "millennium bug" that threatens massive computer disruption at the turn of the century. A new series of quarterly surveys track changes in the compensation of these in-demand employees. CHICAGO, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Large consulting organizations, racing to eradicate the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer bug for their clients, are pulling out the stops to attract and hold onto systems analysts, programmers and others with critical skills to accomplish the job, a new survey indicates. "Year 2000 Compensation Survey Results: First Quarter 1998" from William M. Mercer, Incorporated, profiles the compensation of 283 newly hired Y2K employees at 10 major consulting firms that assist clients on information systems/information technology assignments. According to the survey, the consultants are offering Y2K experts such inducements as: * signing bonuses based on either a percentage of base salary or a flat dollar amount (four of the 10 firms offer such bonuses) * stay/retention bonuses worth an average amount of 8 percent of these employees' base salaries (offered by four of the firms) * short-term incentives, including project milestone and team, group and company performance awards worth an average of 11 percent of base salary (seven of the firms). To help make life easier for Y2K employees as they work long hours to meet an unforgiving deadline, the consulting firms typically provide them with such perquisites as everyday casual dress codes, flexible schedules, and the option of telecommuting, the survey found. Special training programs related to the Y2K challenge also help the consulting firms to attract and retain qualified employees. The survey found that such training is widely offered and ranges from the use of Y2K conversion tools and automated software testing to skill-based and project management/leadership training. On average, the firms annually provide each Year 2000-related employee with about eight days of technical skills training and four days of project/management skills training. The survey, which tracks the quarterly change in Y2K employees' compensation, found that these employees' salaries rose an average of 2.6 percent in the second quarter of this year alone. The 10 Y2K positions for which the quarterly survey provides compensation data range from project director (average annual salary $121,000 in the second quarter) to quality-assurance/testing analyst ($54,300). "Clearly today's tight job market, coupled with the inevitability and magnitude of the Year 2000 problem, spells a bonanza for professionals with relevant skills," says Mercer consultant David Van De Voort in Chicago, an authority on high-technology compensation. "Integrating new hires, who are often comparatively highly paid, into the existing workforce, and making all IT employees effective and productive are essential to meeting the Y2K challenge. "Once the millennium bug is exterminated, the IT workforce must be effectively redeployed to a tremendously back-logged applications development agenda," Mr. Van De Voort advises. It includes systems conversions to handle the common European currency, movement from mainframe to client/server systems, as well as support of business on the World Wide Web and other forms of electronic commerce, he says. Mr. Van De Voort cautions that "the IT talent shortage will not disappear on January 1, 2000, so actions taken now to ensure future IT workforce effectiveness are a game of 'you bet-your- business.'" Copies of the "Year 2000 Compensation Survey Results," consisting of four quarterly reports, are available for $1,500 per quarterly report, or $5,000 for the series, by contacting William M. Mercer's Data and Surveys Group at 800-333-3070. The first and second quarter surveys are available now. The third quarter surveys will be available in September, and fourth quarter surveys will be published in December. William M. Mercer, Incorporated, is one of the nation's leading human resources consulting organizations. Headquartered in New York and with offices in 39 other U.S. cities, the firm is the U.S. operating company of William M. Mercer Companies LLC, a worldwide consulting organization serving clients from 106 offices in 27 countries. SOURCE William M. Mercer, Incorporated