Report: Companies need contract workers
U.S.
economic growth may be hindered if companies experience a shortage of
highly skilled contract workers, according to a new report from
Minneapolis-based HotGigs Inc. The report reveals 30 of the most
desirable skill sets for the contract IT worker. The report, available
for download at www.hotgigs.com/articles, also shows that companies can
expect to pay 10 to 20 percent more for IT contractors in 2006 as they
ramp up new projects.
HotGigs' report shows that project managers
(15 percent of searches) were the most sought-after contract workers.
Companies are specifically seeking project managers with experience
managing teams of 15 or more employees, as well as those with a
background in program management, infrastructure project management, and
project change management.
The report also showed strong demand
for networking engineers (9 percent of searches), especially in wireless
networking and in network security. Specifically, network professionals
who can handle setup and support of local area networks (LANs), network
security, network architecture, Cisco, and TCP/IP are most desired.
Web developers ranked third (8 percent of searches) among the
most favored IT professionals, with top languages being ASP.Net, HTML,
JavaScript, PHP, and XML.
Survey tracks adoption of new
technology
Affordability, fear of disruption to business
operations and apprehension about integrating new technology with old
are the top reasons small business owners hesitate to embrace
technological innovation, according to a recent survey by the
Dallas-based Yankee Group.
The biggest challenge for more than 50
percent of small business managers with 20 to 99 employees is the
integration of different applications and systems that currently stand
alone. More than 40 percent are concerned their technology needs are not
being met as a result of an insufficient IT staff.
IT
hiring continues decline
The Hudson Employment Index for IT
workers fell 4.4 points to 104.6 in February, marking the second
consecutive decline for this sector's reading. All factors influencing
the Index, including hiring expectations, perceptions of personal
finances, perceived job security and job satisfaction, reported declines
in February. The most notable changes were in regards to hiring and job
security. The number of workers reporting their employer had plans to
hire fell from 38 percent to 33 percent, while the number concerned
about job loss rose from 22 percent to 28 percent.
Seattle to host 2007 Cyber Games
Final
Seattle will host the 2007 World Cyber Games Grand
Final.
Last year's event in Singapore attracted about 700
game-playing competitors from 67 countries, and 55,000 people attended
the five-day event.
Seattle topped bids from Cologne, Germany;
Busan, Korea; and Montreal.
This year's event will be held in
October in Monza, Italy. Seattle is only the second U.S. city to host
the five-year-old competition; the 2004 event was held in San Francisco.
VoIP adoption booming
The number of
residential VoIP customers (not including PC-to-PC services) more than
tripled to 4.2 million in 2005 and is expected to grow by a compound
annual rate of 43.9 percent through 2009, reaching 18.0 million. This
was on the heels of an eightfold increase from 150,000 at the end of
2003 to 1.2 million at the end of 2004, according to the Arlington, Va.,
Telecommunications Industry Association's 2006 Telecommunications Market
Review and Forecast.
The U.S. broadband market has grown from 4.5
million subscribers in 2000 to 41.3 million subscribers in 2005 and is
expected to grow an additional 28 million to 69.2 million by 2009, a
13.8 compound annual increase.
VoIP revenue has had a growth
pattern similar to residential VoIP subscribers. VoIP revenue increased
from $25 million in 2003 to $200 million in 2004 and $1.1 billion in
2005. Revenue is projected to increase 46.7 percent on a compound annual
rate through 2009, reaching $5.1 billion.
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