[Seattle Times] IT jobs will grow faster than general employment, according to Microsoft study
More information-technology jobs will be created in the next four years, about three times faster than the projected rate of worldwide general employment, according to a Microsoft-commissioned study.
Here are some findings from the IDC study for Microsoft:
- IT spending, estimated at $1.4 trillion in 2009, is projected to rise $1.7 trillion in 2013.
- IT employment should increase by 5.8 million jobs by the end of 2013, compared to the current base of 35.6 million. That growth would be three times the rate of general employment growth worldwide. The area with the fastest predicted growth is central and eastern Europe.
- Microsoft-related jobs, such as IT professionals who maintain Microsoft software and people who work at hardware and software companies that build off Microsoft products, made up 42 percent of IT employment in 2009.
- For every dollar Microsoft made in sales in 2009, the partner companies make $8.70. Overall, those partner companies are expected to invest $180 billion in local economies in 2009.
- Microsoft estimates cloud computing, the migration from on-site software to software accessed via the Internet, will create $800 billion in net new sales dollars between now and 2013.