New Study Reveals Higher Turnover Rates for IT Workersand More Difficulty Hiring.

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2000

More Bonuses for IT Hires the Norm

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and William M. Mercer, Incorporated today unveiled a new study indicating that information technology

positions are substantially harder to fill than other types of jobs. The study, which surveyed 75 U.S. companies representing 34 states, found that IT and non-IT organizations alike reported difficulty in hiring IT workers, and an average of almost 37% longer to fill IT jobs than non-IT.

Respondents to the study reported difficulty hiring qualified workers in most IT job categories, with most acute difficulties reported in SQL, E-Commerce, and Java / ActiveX competencies.

"The IT job shortage continues to impact virtually every sector of our economy. Organizations large and small, from diverse industries, all report difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified technology workers. In an age where intellectual capital is often a company's primary asset, it is a concern that the capital is a scarce, sometimes rare resource," commented ITAA President Harris N. Miller.

The largest contrast was reported in organizations offering sign-on bonuses. On average, 76.5% of companies offered sign-on bonuses to IT workers, compared to 52.5% for non-IT workers. Large organizations were most likely to give sign-on bonuses to IT workers, reporting they did so more than 90% of the time. This could factor into the higher-than-expected turnover rates reported for IT workers.

"Higher base pay increases, sign-on bonuses and other perks are reported for the average IT worker, all of which point to a continued shortage of skilled workers in the US," said Haig Nalbantian from Mercer's Human Capital Strategy Group, who conducted the study. "It will be interesting, as we report on this study over time, to see how the numbers change and how that reflects the on the job market for IT employees and companies that hire them."

The longitudinal study will be conducted quarterly over a two-year period. Today's results reflect the first round of interviews, which represent Q4 1999 practices.

About ITAA

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) provides global public policy, business networking, and national leadership to promote the continued rapid growth of the IT industry. ITAA consists of 400 direct and 26,000 affiliate corporate members throughout the U.S., and a global network of 41 countries' IT associations. The Association plays the leading role in issues of IT industry concern including information security, taxes and finance policy, digital intellectual property protection, telecommunications competition, workforce and education, immigration, online privacy and consumer protection, government IT procurement, human resources and e-commerce policy. ITAA members range from the smallest IT start-ups to industry leaders in the Internet, software, IT services, ASP, digital content, systems integration, telecommunications, and enterprise solution fields. For more information visit http://www.itaa.org

About William M. Mercer, Incorporated

William M. Mercer, Incorporated, one of the nation's leading consulting organizations, assists employers in the areas of human resource strategy and implementation. Headquartered in New York and with offices in more than 40 US cities, the firm is the US operating company of William M. Mercer Companies LLC, a worldwide consulting organization with some 12,500 employees serving clients in more than 127 cities in 37 countries and territories. For more information, visit Mercer at http://www.wmmercer.com