E-Mail: c.mcmanes@ieee.org
High-Tech
Employment Shrinks in Second Quarter,
Despite Positive Signs on Unemployment Rates
WASHINGTON (26 July 2004) - The number of employed
computer
professionals dropped from the first to second quarters, according
to data
compiled by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS). At
the same time, high-tech unemployment rates also fell.
BLS reported a decline of 131,000 employed computer
software
engineers in the second quarter vs. the first quarter
(725,000 vs.
856,000). Employed computer scientists and systems analysts
have fallen
51,000 (621,000 vs. 672,000) during the same period, while
computer
hardware engineers dropped 3,000 (83,000 vs. 86,000). Computer
programmers
experienced a fall of 16,000 (575,000 vs. 591,000).
Bucking the trend, the number of employed electrical
and electronics
engineers (EEs) rose by 24,000 from the first to second quarters
(351,000
vs. 327,000). The increase, however, is still below the 363,000
quarterly
average in 2003.
"The EE employment figure is encouraging, and we're
interested to see
if the trend continues," IEEE-USA President John Steadman
said. "But we're
most concerned with our shrinking high-tech workforce, much
of which is
attributable to the offshoring of high-tech jobs."
BLS reported the EE unemployment rate, which stood at
5.3 percent in
the first quarter, was 0.8 percent in the second quarter.
While the
increase in EE employment would indicate a falling unemployment
rate,
sampling errors could account for the substantial quarterly
decrease,
according to statistical consultant Richard Ellis of Ellis
Research
Services. A rate for computer hardware engineers wasn't reported
because no
one in this job classification among the survey population
claimed to be
unemployed last quarter.
The unemployment rate for computer software engineers
fell from 3.3
percent in the first quarter to 2.9 percent in the second.
For computer
scientists and system analysts, the rate went from 6.7 percent
to 4.0
percent; for computer programmers it fell from 9.5 percent to
5.7 percent.
"Sadly, part of the unemployment improvements
might be because some
technical professionals have become discouraged and are leaving
the field,"
Steadman said.
IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of the IEEE. It
was created in
1973 to advance the public good and promote the careers and
public-policy
interests of the more than 225,000 technology professionals
who are U.S.
members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical
professional
society. For more information, go to https://www.ieeeusa.org.