Technology stocks have taken a thumping this month, but information technology workers continue to be in great demand in Rhode Island and around New England this spring, according to recent surveys. More than 38 percent of the Rhode Island technology manufacturers surveyed by CorpTech of Woburn, Mass., reported plans to expand their local work force this year.
And RHI Consulting of Menlo Park, Calif., is projecting a 28 percent increase in information technology jobs in New England based on a survey of the region’s chief information officers.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
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One of the local technology companies that’s hiring is the West Warwick telecommunications start-up e-tel. President and Chief Executive Officer Matt Lukens said he’s trying to pump up his company’s ranks from 18 employees today to 30 by September.
But it hasn’t been easy in today’s super-tight labor market.
“It’s been awful,” Lukens said. “I’ve been hopping up and down because there are people that live in Lincoln, and even as far south as Kingston, commuting to (jobs on) Route 128 or 495” in Massachusetts.
RHI Executive Director Greg Scileppi attributed the high demand for information technology workers here and around the country to the continued growth of the Internet.
“As companies continue to pursue e-business initiatives, demand for technology professionals who can develop and support Internet-based systems is intensifying,” he is quoted as saying in a statement released with the survey. “Nationwide, firms are actively recruiting Web developers, e-commerce specialists and systems integrators to align traditional brick-and-mortar operations with successful e-commerce models.”
More than a quarter of the New England chief information officers, or CIOs, polled by Scileppi’s company said they expected to hire additional technical employees during the second quarter. Only about 1 percent of the CIOs surveyed said they planned to reduce their staffs.
The survey results for New England were slightly more optimistic than the overall results for the United States. New England ranked third among U.S. regions after the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions. RHI Consulting surveyed 1,400 chief information officers from a broad range of U.S. companies with more than 100 employees.
CorpTech, a corporate directory publisher, surveyed 151 Rhode Island technology manufacturers with less than 1,000 employees. CorpTech’s research found that the local companies planning to hire this year expected to increase their work forces by an average of about 15 percent, creating 636 new jobs.
Overall, the company is forecasting a 5.6 percent increase in technology manufacturing jobs in the Ocean State.
CorpTech’s survey also found that about the same portion of companies planned to hire more workers in New England as in Rhode Island alone, but companies across the region expected to increase their work forces by an average of nearly 18 percent compared to Rhode Island’s 15 percent. The national numbers were similar to those for the region.
Overall, CorpTech forecasts a 7.3 percent increase in technology manufacturing jobs in New England and a 6.6 percent increase nationally.
The RHI Consulting survey dealt with larger businesses that employ technology workers but aren’t necessarily technology companies.
The state Department of Labor’s projections also show a bright outlook for information technology workers in the Ocean State.
The number of systems analysts jobs here, for example, is expected to jump more than 100 percent from just fewer than 1,850 in 1996 to more than 3,708 in 2006, according to labor department projections. By contrast, the state average job growth rate is expected to increase just 11 percent over the 10-year period.
But will there be enough people to fill all the new technology jobs?
“My understanding from talking to the education and economic development people is that we’re not graduating enough students in those fields to fill the vacancies,” said Bob Langlais, assistant director for labor market information for the department. “We have to attract them from out of state, and that’s a problem.”
Meanwhile, database administrators and computer support specialist jobs in Rhode Island are expected to increase 64 percent during the 10-year forecast period — from 104 to 171 and from 349 to 573, respectively. Computer programming jobs are projected to grow at a slower 22 percent clip from fewer than 1,500 in 1996 to more than 1,800 in 2006, according to the labor department’s estimates.
