While unemployment in Westchester rose slightly in June and the number of private-sector jobs shrank in the state, some highly educated workers are hotly in demand this summer. In the stagnant economy”™s labor pool, information technology professionals have that rare “it” sought by employers.
“The amount of business right now for IT is off the charts,” said Elaine Finegan, president of Classic Westchester, a staffing agency in White Plains and division of First Choice Staffing Inc. “It”™s hit a record high.”
The demand has been seen both in the metropolitan New York area and nationwide. “Anyone in IT is making money,” she said.
In Westchester, “IT is probably the hottest job market right now ”“ I would say for at least the last three months,” said Finegan.
Who is IT?
Finegan”™s business in White Plains has benefited from the “dramatic growth” this year in the county”™s IT job market described in the latest Pace/SkillProof IT Index Report. The quarterly surveys from Pace University, done in partnership with SkillProof Inc., a job market research company in Bridgeport, Conn., separately track job openings in Westchester and Manhattan, using data from 130 blue chip companies across a spectrum of major industries.
The Westchester index rose 50 percent in the second quarter, following a 24 percent rise in the first quarter. The IT job index climbed to its highest level in two years, though still well below the peak reached in the second quarter of 2007.
Manhattan, which also saw a recent three-month growth spurt in IT job listings, rose 47 percent on the index, the largest quarterly gain there since Pace and its partner began collecting data in 2004.
Of 11 standard IT job categories, computer research scientists again were most in demand by Westchester companies, with a 53 percent rise in the index for that occupation. Network administrators also were increasingly sought by companies, with a 39 percent jump in job postings, followed by IT managers, a category for which postings rose 36 percent.
Not all IT specialists are in demand here, however. The second-quarter market for software systems engineers dropped more than 40 percent, one of two job categories that declined. Hiring in five categories remained flat.
Effects on foreign nationals
At Classic Westchester, “The amount of orders coming in for IT on a consistent basis is major,” Finegan said. In addition to companies seeking consultants, “I have quite a few permanent IT jobs I”™m working on now in Westchester,” she said. “Those will be easily filled.”
Filling highly specialized IT jobs, though, has become more difficult since the recession left so many Americans out of work. With the high unemployment, companies are pressured to hire U.S. citizens rather than sponsor foreign nationals, led by IT professionals from India, applying for H-1B visas here for specialized occupations, said Finegan.
“Normally, it was not a problem,” she said of the worker visa petition process, which can cost sponsoring employers $2,000 and up, she said. For an IT specialty, “We could fill it in a heartbeat.”
The 2009 Employ American Workers Act, part of the federal stimulus legislation, specifically prevents companies that received Troubled Asset Relief Program funds from displacing U.S. workers when hiring nonimmigrant H-1B workers. Those companies must prove to U.S Labor Department officials they first took good-faith steps to recruit U.S. workers and have offered the job to any equally or better qualified U.S. worker who applied. The law is set to expire in February 2011.
Cost of living an issue
At Compufit Computer Corp., an IT services provider in Harrison, founding president and CEO Tara Meenan Lansen said she was not surprised by the findings in the Pace job market report. Compufit began to see demand for IT services from its existing business clients rise in the third quarter last year, she said. “We have seen that projects are beginning to pick up,” said Meenan Lansen. “They”™re spending more now.”
After the first two quarters, “Our revenues are up this year,” she said. “We”™re certainly keeping busy.” With the uncertain economy, though, “We”™re looking at it very cautiously.”
The cost-saving measures at small and mid-sized companies in the recession have had benefits for Compufit, which Meenan Lansen started 15 years ago. Prospective clients have cut IT staff and are looking to outsource more, she said.
Meenan Lansen said her 15-employee company is in the process of hiring two more software engineers and an IT administrator. Using online job market sites, “When we post for our administrative person, you”™re completely inundated,” she said. “We can”™t keep up with resumes.”
But few engineers are available. “The types of people we need, they have jobs,” Meenan Lansen said. “What”™s more challenging for us is to find engineers that are in a geographical area for us.”
Candidates from the New York City boroughs are available, but the cost of living in Westchester makes it hard to find prospective employees here, she said.
