The Computer Research Association (CRA) reported on 3/16/09 that "according to the United States Department of Labor, computer science graduates on average earn 13 percent more than the average college graduate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, future job prospects for computer science graduates are higher than for any other science or engineering field." It also states that CS enrollment is up for the first time in 6 years.
Network World (3/30/09) reports that "Amid the worst job market in 25 years, IT is holding steady. Most CIOs are maintaining their current staffing levels; while a few are hiring specialists who have in-demand IT skills."
Top 10 jobs in America today (1/6/09), according to CareerCast.com:
- Mathematician
- Actuary
- Statistician
- Biologist
- Software Engineer
- Computer Systems Analyst
- Historian
- Sociologist
- Industrial Designer
- Accountant
You may also be interested in seeing the 10 worst jobs.
Top 10 Recession-proof Jobs: The Chicago Sun Times reported 11/4/08 on the top 10 recession-proof jobs, taken from "150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs," a book by Laurence Shatkin, a career information consultant who crunched government data to come up with the list.
1. Computer systems analyst.
2. Network systems and data communications analyst.
3. Network and computer systems administrator.
4. Registered nurse.
5. Teacher, postsecondary.
6. Physical therapist.
7. Physician and surgeon.
8. Dental hygienist.
9. Pharmacist.
10. Medical and health services manager.
ZDNet (Nov 17, 2008) reports that "IT offshoring is exaggerated and the IT labor shortage is real." Only about 5% of IT jobs are outsourced, and that there is a shortage of trained people to fill the needs in IT.
Information Week (April 8, 2008) reports that US IT jobs are up 12% from a year ago. IT unemployment is up slightly, hitting 2.6%, up from 2.1% a year ago. The article describes where US IT job growth is coming from:
"By far the largest growth category has been computer support specialists, which leaped 41% the past year, adding 127,000 jobs. Next is network and data communication analysts (68,000 new jobs, 19% growth), computer scientists and system analysts (65,000 new jobs, 8% growth), and network/system administrators (51,000 new jobs, 31% growth). The economy also added 51,000 IT management jobs, growing 11%"
According to the US Department of Commerce forecasts of all professional occupations between 2006 and 20016 http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/11/art5full.pdf, “computer and mathematical occupations are expected to grow the most quickly (with a 24.8-percent growth rate).”
Two of the four fastest growing jobs are CS jobs, with Network Systems and Data Communications Analyst jobs projected to grow 53.4%, and Computer Software Engineers 44.6%. Also included in the top 25 fastest-growing jobs are Computer Systems Analysts (29%), Database Administrators (28.6%), And Computer Systems Software Engineers (28.2%)
[Table above taken from http://www.bls.gov/emp/emptab21.htm]
See ACM's Career News for recent articles describing employment opportunities and trends.
See a study (March 2008) that finds H-1B visas do not inhibit domestic hiring.
