Software skills in crisis: study ...

Software skills in crisis: study - Employment and Immigration Canada study predicts 12,000 to 14,000 unfilled jobs within three years
Computing Canada, March 30, 1992 by Carolyn Van Brussel
TORONTO -- There are positions begging to be filled in the software industry and 12,000-14,000 job vacancies are projected within the next three years in this sector, according to a study prepared for Employment and Immigration Canada.
The report, called Software and National Competitiveness: Human Resource Issues and Opportunities, co-sponsored by the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) and the Canadian Advanced Technology Association (CATA) says Canada faces a severe human resources shortage.
It revealed some alarming information about the possible impact this shortage will have on the Canadian economy if it is not addressed by the government, educators and employers.
"Information technology sectors are the dominant source of opportunity for economic growth," said roy Woodbridge, president of CATA, at a press conference held here this month.
"People with software skills have a very strategic role to play in the transformation of the Canadian economy yet the human resource dimensions of this shift to the information age have never been adequately assessed," said Woodbridge. "As a result, the country as a whole is beginning to pay for that neglect."
The study assessed software workers by dividing them into two categories: the software industry and the in-house or MIS worker.
The software industry employs 50,000 workers who are usually young, male and have a university degree but lack work experience. The in-house sector, representing 100,000 workers, are usually older, 30 to 45, mostly male and have varying degrees of education but have outdated skill sets and are not provided with extra training.
Projected growth for the software industry is 20 per cent. "It's not going too far over the top to say that Canada is in danger of becoming a third world nation if we don't step up to these issues," said Anne McKague, president of Anne McKague and Assocociates in Toronto and a CIPS member.
McKague also cited the problems associated with image. "What we found is there lacks a clear definition of the software profession in the workplace." If workers are unclear about their own descriptions, educators will find it difficult to produce the curriculum needed to quench the demand, she explained.
Software workers do not enjoy a positive image, particularly at the high school level, promoted by the computer "nerd" stereotype. This influences the career choice of vulnerable youth.
The study also indicated that women are underrepresented in the industry at a rate of 30 per cent among software workers, as opposed to 56 per cent of white-collar jobs in other industries. Software companies are routinely reporting one in four jobs standing empty, said McKague.
Government budget reductions among schools are not helping to alleviate the problem either.
"I think the findings of the study could have great impact on the curriculum that universities, colleges and high schools have in the future or it could have none," said William Howorth, dean of the school of computer studies at Seneca College in North York, Ont.
"Canada doesn't spend enough on research and development in the computer sector," said George White, associate professor, department of computer studies at the University of Ottawa.
The study, funded by Employment and Immigration Canada was conducted by Peat Marwick Stevenson & Kellogg, assisted by International Data Corp., Canada and Abt Associates of Canada.
COPYRIGHT 1992 Transcontinental Media IT Business Group
Source: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CGC/is_n7_v18/ai_12020444

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