If this is the future of IT, it's pretty bleak

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 13 January 2008 09:34

IT People - Enterprise

A employer survey by an IT staffing company has identified management of 'millennials' - the 18-31 age group and source of the future IT workforce - as one of the toughest management challenges facing employers. News of these findings follows this week's warning by the Australian Information Industry Association that the IT industry must take drastic remedial action to attract and retain new workers as the baby boomers head off into retirement.

Boston-based IT staffing company Atlantic Associates surveyed more than 100 executives representing more than 40 companies in industries core to the local economy including healthcare, financial services, government and higher education. It reports that "more than half of the respondents said that millennials, which many say have been coddled by their parents in their upbringing, are the toughest generation to manage in the workforce. Generation Xers (32-42 years old) ranked a distant second [being ranked toughest by] 17 percent."

Atlantic's co-founder and principal, Jack Harrington, said: "The millennials could be in for a major surprise as they enter and move about the workforce. But as much as this generation may need to make adjustments, so too will the companies themselves. Millennials, particularly in the IT field, comprise the future. In a market where finding qualified candidates is often a challenge, companies cannot afford to simply turn their backs on an entire generation."

The AAI survey also found that hiring and retaining qualified candidates were the primary staffing challenges that companies will face in IT in 2008. Twenty three percent of respondents said retaining existing staff was their leading challenge, while 22 percent said they struggle finding qualified candidates.