IT unemployment may be half that of the national average, but 70% of executives in one study are curtailing IT hiring, and even IT executive jobs are not immune to cutbacks. Not since the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001 have IT roles of all levels been compromised, according to IT recruiters, leaving some senior IT executives feeling the pain.
Perhaps even more pervasive is the so-called "fear index" tracked by IT jobs site Dice.com. The index measures how many IT professionals are posting their resumes on the site, one indicator of IT employment trends. "Our best judgment on a fear index is to see the growth on Dice.com in both applications and new resumes posted. In the fourth quarter of 2008, new resumes grew 67% and applications on Dice grew 20% vs. the same period last year," said Tom Silver, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at New York-based Dice Holdings Inc.
Overall job postings on Dice.com are down roughly 35% in January, Silver said. While the number of unemployed senior-level IT executives isn't known, "With this type of decline, it's hard to imagine that any category of seniority is escaping the slackening of demand," Silver said.
