IT Workforce

In IT, there were about 2.1 million wage and salary jobs, and an additional 164,000 self-employed workers, making the industry one of the largest in the economy. Most self-employed workers are independent consultants. Since the late 1980s, employment has grown most rapidly in the computer programming services, information services, and prepackaged software segments of the industry. From 1990 to 2000, about 368,000 jobs were created in programming services, 196,000 in information retrieval services, and another 187,000 in prepackaged software.

Providing a wide array of information services requires a diverse and well-educated workforce. The majority of workers in this industry are professional and technical workers, such as computer programmers, software engineers, systems analysts, database administrators, web developers, and e-business specialists. Professionals with specialized technical background account for over 60 percent of the jobs in the industry, reflecting the emphasis on high level technical skills and creativity.

IT industry¡¯s workforce remains younger than most, with large proportions of workers in the 25 to 44 age range. Relative to the rest of the economy, there are significantly fewer workers 45 years of age and older.

Since the early 1980s, the industry experienced explosive growth in employment The huge increase in employment afforded thousands of opportunities to younger workers possessing the newest technological skills.

Professionals in IT industry make more than the national average. The average monthly income for junior level non-supervisory workers in IT industry is $3,600, significantly higher than the average of $1,900 for all industries. This reflects the concentration of professionals and specialists who often are highly compensated for their specialized skills or expertise.

Given the pace at which technology advances in this industry, earnings can be driven by demand for specific skills or experience. Workers in segments of the industry that offer only professional services have even higher average earnings because there are fewer less skilled, lower paid workers in these segments.

As one might expect, education and experience influence earnings as well. For example, annual earnings of computer software engineers ranged from less than $42,710 for the lowest 10 percent to more than $106,680 for the highest 10 percent in 2000. Managers usually earn more because they have been on the job longer and are more experienced than their staffs, but their salaries, too, can vary by level and experience. Accordingly, annual earnings of computer and information systems managers ranged from less than $44,090 for the lowest 10 percent to more than $127,460 for the highest 10 percent in 2000. Earnings also are affected by other factors such as size, location, and type of establishment, hours and responsibilities of the employee, and level of sales.