Year in review: A mixed bag for tech workers

This year carried mixed signals about the job market for technology professionals.

Early in 2004, it seemed that information technology workers were in for more disappointment on top of massive job cuts in the wake of the dot-com bust. Critics assailed the way India-based companies were heavy users of guest worker visas and said the visas fuel the shift of high-skilled work offshore.

In addition, so-called "offshoring" took center stage. Business leaders defended the practice as ultimately good for the U.S. economy and its workers. But the U.S. wing of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers professional group said the practice contributes to high unemployment among U.S. techies and threatens the nation's tech standing.

Adding to such fear was a report in May from Forrester Research confirming its widely publicized forecast that more than 3 million U.S. jobs will move offshore by 2015. The research firm also raised its estimate of positions at risk in the near future.

But Forrester analyst John McCarthy said the scale of offshoring had at times been overstated in the media. And a report from Congress' research arm on the subject declared that government data offer limited insight into the extent of offshoring and its effects.

Meanwhile, signs of an improved job market emerged as the year progressed. IT services firms such as BearingPoint were hiring, the U.S. Labor Department said the economy added technology services jobs, and analysts warned companies to take steps to retain prized workers as the job market tightens.

A measure of IT worker confidence in the job market rose to a new high in October, and the unemployment rate for employees in computer and math occupations dropped to an average of 4.5 percent for the first three quarters of the year from an average of 5.6 percent during the first three quarters of 2003.

The latter part of the year also revealed a not-so-fun side of the computer game industry. An anonymous Web log essay blasted computer game titan Electronic Arts for grueling hours and triggered complaints about work expectations in the broader industry. In response, EA sent a memo to employees admitting a problem and promising workplace reforms. "There are things we just need to fix," a company executive wrote.

In November, Congress agreed to changes to the L-1 and H-1B visa programs, including a provision to exempt from the H-1B annual cap up to 20,000 foreigners who earn advanced degrees in the United States. President Bush signed the changes into law in December.

--Ed Frauenheim