I’m a frequent reader of CIO Magazine and typically refer to their on-line e-zine for topical information. So when I saw the article North American Companies “Can’t Find” Qualified IT Talent splashed on their home page the other day, I had to give it a read. I should note that this article was a reprint that originally appeared in IT World Canada (also owned by IDG), but based on the drivel I read in the article I was hard-pressed to understand how this was worthy of any CIO’s time to read.
First of all, the article was a little disjointed in that it kept referring to ‘North America’ but had quite a focus on issues occurring in Canada specifically. I have no problem if you want to talk about North America as a whole, but I don’t think you can compare technology staffing and education issues in Canada to what is occurring in the U.S.
This is not a xenophobic position. It’s just a matter of fact that the state of the staffing industry in Canada is not necessarily comparable to that of the United States; much in the same way that it is not comparable to Europe or Asia.
But to premise an article with the state of ‘North American’ companies locating qualified IT talent and then proceed to use primarily Canadian examples and references is, in my opinion, doing a disservice to the issue and not presenting the true story. Of course there are IT staffing issues in the U.S. and Canada. This has been written and blogged about ad-nauseum (guilty as charged). I think this article would have been better served if it focused on issues currently facing Canada.
My second issue with the article was the fact that there really wasn’t any new information being provided and, if it was new information, perhaps it is new to the Canadian job market and I’m just missing the boat. I’ll admit to not being as knowledgeable on the IT skills shortage with our neighbors to the north, but to use quotes such as:
“Inability to find adequate and appropriate IT talent in their own country is causing many North American CEOs to turn their gaze to distant shores…”
Or
“Cheaper labor and material cost in countries such as India make it easier to build remote offices there. The offshore locations are staffed by local IT professionals who are paid at a lower rate than their North American counterparts.”
Or this gem from Adam Cole, national director for the Canadian Information Processing Society (once again, a strong reference to what is occurring in Canada)…
“Cole fears if the off-shoring trend continues, the local economy will suffer. “If corporations keep on establishing centers of excellence somewhere else, it will eventually hurt the economy.””
Was this article written in 2000? I really enjoy CIO Magazine and they provide a wealth of information to me, as evidenced by this article that was located right below the article I’m speaking about here, discussing ideas for attracting the ‘younger generation’ to pursue IT careers.
But please give us some better fodder than a rehash of what every CIO already knows.
