Career A BRIEF COMPENDIUM OF
Central THE IT WORKPLACE
Small IT shops are San Francisco is scram- throw their hands up. easier to train.
agile but frenzied bling to add trains to the The American Telecom- Advocates also argue
WITH A TENDENCY TO GET BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) muting Association has that telecommuting ben-
bogged down with day- rail system, as well as free been spreading the gospel efits range from reduced
to-day maintenance and ferries, buses and trains for of remote work for more traffic, to minimized air
having limited management the daily commute. Also, city than five years, urging more pollution and strain on
experience—as well as a officials are urging residents employers to adopt such transportation structures,
finite amount of overhead to telecommute if possible. policies. In return, they say, to fewer demands on non-
they can support—small This telecommute-only-in- managers will get more renewable resources such
and midsize IT shops are case-of-disaster message has loyal employees who are as fossil fuels.
much different workplaces caused those advocating the more satisfied with their
from their big technology benefits of telecommuting to jobs, more productive and CEOs see growing use
counterparts. But it’s not all bad news. A confident IT work force? of offshore talent According to Forrester ADMITTING THAT FINDING, HIR-
Research, the smaller That depends on whom you’re listening to. Two recent surveys ing and retaining qualified
departments’ size allows came out with different viewpoints on how technology pros are employees is their biggest
them to be closer to their feeling about their jobs and the industry: operational challenge, nearly
customers, gives them Hudson Talent Management’s May 2 report showed: half of fast-growth technol-
greater agility and enables Confidence among IT pros hit a record high in April, with an ogy CEOs said they are tap-
them to more easily track index rating of 122.6 ping overseas markets for
internal activities of their
38 percent of those polled expect their companies to hire in talent. This is a trend they
groups. the coming months, up 7 percent from the previous month expect to only increase over
However, with quicker A record-low 13 percent expect layoffs the next five years, accord-
reaction times and greater 78 percent said they are satisfied with their jobs, up 8 percent ing to a survey of CEOs
agility come disadvantages: 60 percent rate their finances as good or excellent, up 8 released by Deloitte May 1.
Smaller IT departments have percent However, these CEOs also
minimal tolerance for over- Spherion’s May
2 report showed: said they are shying away
head, and they aren’t able to from doing business outside
shoulder the burdens of high
34 percent of IT workers in the first quarter said they are likely to look for a job in the next
12 months, down
12 percent from the North America.
operating expenses, even previous quarter Sixty-seven percent of the
those that stand to improve
24 percent said the economy is getting stronger, down 8 technology CEOs surveyed,
processes. percent consistent with the 66 per-
7
5 percent said it is unlikely that they will be laid off up 1 cent in a 2006 survey, said
Highway snarl a win high-quality employees are
for telecommuting the biggest contributors to
company growth. Finding,
THE GASOLINE TANKER THAT hiring and retaining the best
crashed and burst into flames employees, however, is their
near the San Francisco- biggest operational chal-
Oakland Bay Bridge April 29 lenge, cited by 48 percent
did more than melt and col- of CEOs, up from 41 percent
lapse a stretch of a highway in 2006.
overpass; it caused a traffic
disaster that is expected to —Compiled by Deborah
clog commuters for months. Perelman
