US Information Technology Situation: Political/Policy Context

1. US Information Technology Situation: Political/Policy Context Victor W. Marshall and Joanne Gard Marshall UNC at Chapel Hill AGHE Presidential Symposium Older Workers and Information Technology: A Global Challenge

2. The information technology sector • What is ‘information technology’ or IT? • What companies? What Professions? • As computers are so prevalent, how do we distinguish IT workers from other workers? • Is IT service producing, goods producing, or both? • What other industries overlap with IT? (e.g., telecommunications, information science)

3. Selected Definitions • American Electronics Association (AEA) • Industries are classified as ‘high tech’ if they are considered a “maker/creator of technology, whether it be in the form of products, communications, or services,” (Platzer, Novak & Kazmierczak, 2003) • Note- does not include ‘user’

4. Selected Definitions • IT Workforce Data Project (1999) • United Engineering Foundation and Alfred P. Sloane Foundation project • IT is “the study, design, development, implementation, support, or management of computer-based information systems” • “…no evidence that any serious shortages of technical professional – engineers in the past, information technology specialists now– have ever occurred.”

5. Selected Definitions • U.S. Census Bureau • The IT sector is comprised of “establishments engaged in the following processes: (a) producing and distributing information and cultural products, (b) providing the means to transmit or distribute these products as well as data or communications, and (c) processing data” • Defined as service producing

6. “High Tech” and “Information” overlap

7. IT workers • “Nine out of ten IT workers are found in banks, insurance companies, manufacturing plants or other non-IT businesses” (ITAA, 2003) • Occupations • Self-Definition • “IT Workers” vs. “IT-Enabled Workers”

8. Selected Definitions • Freeman and Aspray (1999) • A company is part of the ‘IT’ industry if its main purpose is designing, producing or using computer-based systems • Uses company by company judgments; requires a definition of ‘main purpose’

9. IT-Enabled Workers Marketing VP CFO Business / Industry Knowledge CIO Product Developer IT Workers Business Project Mngr Application Developer CTO SW Project Manager Bank Teller System Admin Call Consultant OS Developer Information Technology Knowledge Distinguishing IT Workers from IT-Enabled Workers

10. Librarians and aging - the triple whammy • Baby boomer aging • Proportion of late entrants • Trend towards early exit

13. Three ways to meet labor force needs in IT • Outsource the work – Off-shoring • Import the workers • Tap underutilized segments of the labor market such as women, minorities, and older workers

14. Outsourcing • 12% of IT companies have opened up overseas operations, with large IT companies being the most likely to make this move • 22% of large IT companies surveyed said that they had already moved work offshore Source: ITAA (2003)

15. Immigration • North Carolina Electronics and Information Technologies Association [NCEITA]) indicated that over one-third of survey respondents had up to 10% of their employees on work visas • Employers justified this by citing the shortage in qualified IT personnel and emphasizing their goals of getting “the best” person for the job.

16. Implications of the different strategies for aging and workforce issues • There are secular trends to encourage people to work longer • IT workers will need to work longer • The industry will have to develop career lines and retention mechanisms targeted to older workers

17. Tapping underutilized labor force segments • The next two papers will address this issue. • Will the US become a net importer or exporter of information technology? • Can the US maintain market position if it relies on other countries for skilled workers in IT?

18. www.aging.unc.edu Program on Older Workers and Retirement International Project: www.wane.ca