Will My Computer Science Job Be Outsourced?

Question: I am a student thinking of majoring in Computer Science. If I do, will my job be outsourced?

Answer: You might have been warned not to become a computer scientist because so many “IT jobs” are being outsourced to India and China. Is that a good reason to decide not to become a computer scientist?

First of all, the words “IT” (Information Technology) refer to many types of computer-related jobs other than computer scientist, for example a help desk person or a low-level programming job. And, indeed, many of these lower-level jobs are being outsourced to countries where people are willing to work for a much lower salary than would be required in this country.

But yes, many high-level design and programming jobs are also being outsourced. And several companies have established research and development laboratories in such countries as India, China, Ireland, and Israel to perform research in various areas of Computer Science.

However, even with the reality of outsourcing, computer-related jobs are still predicted to be among the fastest growing occupations over the next decade and beyond. For example:

· The College Board, the organization that administers the SAT examinations, has a Web site with a page, 10 Hottest Careers for College Graduates (2002-2012), and on that page is a list of the “Occupations with the Most New Jobs: Bachelor's Degrees.” Six of these ten occupations are Computer Science related:

o Computer systems analyst

o Computer software engineer (applications)

o Computer software engineer (system analyst)

o Network systems and data communications analyst

o Network and computer systems administrator

o Computer programmer.

· The U.S. Department of Labor says that while jobs for computer programmers will grow about as fast as average through 2012, other Computer Science related jobs (software engineers, support specialists, system administrators, systems analysts, database administrators, computer scientists) will grow faster than average, and jobs for software engineers are projected to increase faster than almost any other occupation.

· The National Association of Colleges and Employers in its 2005 salary survey identified ``Software Design and Development'' as one of the top 10 jobs for students with new Bachelor's degrees, and the job with the highest starting salary among the top 10. Computer Science majors with new Bachelor's degrees earn the second highest average starting salary overall.

· In 2006, Money magazine published a list of the 50 “Best Jobs in America.” Number 1 on the list was software engineer, and number 7 was computer/IT analyst. One measure they used in making up this list was their “10 year job growth forecast.” That forecast for software engineers was 46.07% and for computer/IT analysts was 36.10%.

The technology is changing so fast and the need for new computer professionals is growing so rapidly that there will be plenty of jobs for computer professionals in the United States as well as in all the other countries of the world. In fact, in 2004 Bill Gates predicted that there would be a serious shortage of computer professionals in the United States by the year 2012.

The Real Issue

Outsourcing is not the real issue. The issue is what country will be the world leader in conceiving and developing the coming generations of exciting new applications of computers and in starting the new companies that will produce and sell those applications.

Instead of using outsourcing as a reason not to become a computer scientist, we should instead view it as a challenge. These other countries are challenging our technical leadership in the computer area. That leadership has been an important factor in our economic growth and well being over the past several decades. For example, companies such as Google, Microsoft, eBay, Cisco, and Dell were formed by American entrepreneurs, many of them while they were still in college.

Do we want to retain that leadership? If so, we need to attract more, not fewer computer scientists who will develop the new concepts, technologies, and products that will certainly be developed elsewhere if not here.

If the word “outsourcing” scares off too many young people, and not enough smart, creative, entrepreneurial people in the United States decide to become computer scientists, we might find ourselves giving up our leadership to India, China, or some other country. That would almost certainly be bad for our economic well-being and that of our children.

You are the generation that will determine whether or not we retain our position as leaders in computer technology.

Web Sites Containing the Data Mentioned Above:

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/oco1002.htm

http://www.jobweb.com/SalaryInfo/default.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/top50/index.html

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat9.txt

http://www.collegeboard.com/article/0,3868,4-24-0-236,00.html#table%203

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/oco1002.htm

http://www.jobweb.com/SalaryInfo/default.htm