Sharyn Leaver of Forrester Research has an interesting blog post at CIO.com about how baby boomers and Generation Xers are steering the younger Millennial generation away from careers in information technology, largely because trends toward outsourcing and cost-cutting are draining the field of its career opportunities.
Still, Forrester has estimated that IT jobs are set to grow through 2016, and Leaver argues that careers in IT will remain the best potential paths for young graduates. For example, technology will become more embedded in business operations, she writes, meaning IT careers will still have a ladder to the top of an organization, IT professionals will take on more responsibilities, and technical expertise will still be in high-demand. The push for more information security also will increase the demand for IT workers, she adds.
As a current IT worker in the federal government, which arguably has more job security than a private sector job, would you recommend a career in IT among members of Generation Y or even Generation Z? Knowing that challenges such as outsourcing and cost-cutting exist in the private sector, would you recommend that a public sector IT career is the way to go?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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