Prior to the current Senate campaign, Harris Miller (D,VA) was president of the Information Technology Association of America and was the foremost Congressional lobbyist for increases in high-tech worker visas.
Wikipedia: Harris Miller
Forsooth:
Bouncing Back:
Jobs, Skills and the Continuing Demand for IT Workers
Information Technology Association of America
May 2002
I. Executive Summary
The Demand for IT Workers
* Companies are optimistic about future hirings over the next twelve months. They project an aggregate demand for IT workers of 1,148,639 in 2002, of which they expect 578,711 positions to go unfilled due to a lack of qualified workers, referred to as the "gap" in IT workers.
ITAA: Bouncing Back (2002 .pdf)
How reliable are the findings of this report?
Bouncing Back is drawn from a survey of line IT managers in for-profit US companies with 50+ employees using a stratified, projectable sample. The sample was segmented into 377 non-IT and 155 IT-companies. The survey has a confidence level of 90 percent with a margin of error or +/- 3.6 percent.
Bouncing Back FAQs (.pdf)
So, how did Mr. Miller's predictions turn out?
Say WHAT?
2003 Workforce Survey
Presented at the National IT Workforce Convocation
May 5, 2003 Arlington, VA
Future demand for IT workers
Last year, ITAA titled its annual workforce survey "Bouncing Back." Demand for IT workers appeared to be recovering from 2001 lows and the tapering of force reductions seemed to provide grounds for cautious optimism. Wrong. Data collected through 2002 and for this survey indicate that demand for IT workers is down dramatically. Hiring managers say they will seek to fill just 493,431 IT jobs over the next 12 months....
ITAA 2003 Workforce Survey (.pdf)
My calculation shows a 232% error margin for ITAA projections, +/-100%, with a 0% confidence level.
Congress buys this stuff hook, line and sinker.
How confident are you of Mr. Miller?
Dana Rothrock
Houston, TX
unemployed computer systems engineer