| July 2006 |
 |
| Jobs exist in both the private and public technology sectors |
|
| If you picture your nation's capital as a place were armies of IT workers are hunched over millions of computers processing the reams of data generated from every little thing the government does, you're probably not far off. But the private-sector world of IT in Washington D.C. is also buzzing with activity, and skilled workers are in demand.
|
|
One indicator comes from IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology, whose third-quarter IT Hiring Index finds that a net 16% of Washington CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter.
The quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook Survey backs up that finding. It calculates that 22% of the Washington-area companies it interviewed plan to hire more employees in the third quarter, while none expect to reduce their payrolls.
More good news comes from a study done for the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (an offshoot of the national Communication Workers of America union). It finds that Washington is one of the two most important regional IT labor markets in the U.S., with current IT industry employment surpassing the highs achieved in March 2001, when the dot-com bust started to take its toll. The area saw an increase of 12,200 IT jobs between March 2004 and February 2006, and during that period, employment increased consistently, with no monthly dips along the way.
|
|
| Washington is one of the two most important regional IT labor markets in the U.S. |
| - Washington Alliance of Technology Workers |
|
As for Dice.com's job listings for Washington, the numbers are trending up. They rose one percent in the second quarter, from 7,660 in March to 7,729 in June. "Tech job listings in D.C. absolutely exploded last year," said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice, the leading technology career site. "The fact that they're remaining at these levels now is a strong comment on the market's continued strength."
The city's Department of Employment Services sees that upward trend continuing for years to come. It's currently predicting a net increase of approximately 6,800 jobs per year for the next 10 years, although it doesn't break out the tech category for its own specific estimate.
Widen the scope to include the neighboring 15 counties in Virginia and Maryland, and the resulting metro region is the nation's fourth largest with 6 million people. It's a region that added 72,000 jobs in 2005, surpassing New York, L.A., and Chicago. The Greater Washington Initiative 2006 Regional Report, which compiles these numbers, also says that there are 325,000 technology workers in the DC region (60% are federal contractors), and the unemployment rate is 3.4%, significantly lower than the national average. Bioscience is a hot sub-sector. Its workforce, which totals 33,000, has grown 5% per year since 2003.
One of the best places to seek out an IT job is in the growth industry of homeland security. In fact, the fiscal year 2007 budget for the Department of Homeland Security will reach $4.4 billion, a 20% increase over 2006. Those IT experts who have an active or current security clearance should be especially in demand. A site like ClearanceJobs.com is a good place to seek out relevant listings. Although the decision to take a job with the federal government can be a tough one, with many factors to consider, it's clear that in Washington, the government is still employer #1.
|
|
|
|
|
| 16% of Washington CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter |
| - Robert Half Technology's third-quarter IT Hiring Index |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
